Mistakes were Made
by Huoyingmi
Summary: Why doesn't anyone remember Naruto's legacy and try to train him earlier?  What if another village did?  Naruto in Kumo!
1. Prologue

Author's Note: The premise of this fic is Kumo OP, kinda like Terran (Marines QQ). I'm just fixing that bug where they could lose. Also the Leaf dumb. Like really dumb. And so is Kumo. Why try steal da kine heavily guarded Hyūga kid when there's a jinchūriki with no guardian who's always alone just sitting there? I also decided to try explain why NO ONE in the leaf recognizes Naruto described by Jiraiya as the spitting image of Yondaime. Or why no one remembers the Uzumakis, despite their clan symbol being EVERYWHERE in the Leaf and Uzumakis being the wives of two Hokages including the FOUNDER.

Oh yea, this is my first time ever writing a fanfic. Constructive reviews please!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. In one of the many possibilities of the continuum shift I might, and congratulations! You've been given observer powers! Now sit back, relax, enjoy one of the many possibilities, and keep your eye out for those split 1/480,000th of a second opportunities!

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><p><strong>Mistakes Were Made<strong>

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><p><strong><span>Prologue<span>**

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><p>-Somewhere in Amegakure near some houses, During the Second Shinobi World War-<p>

Rain dripped off the hood of the shinobi and gathered in craters left by explosive tags and jutsu. There were several dome structures surrounding the ninja in the war-torn country, some caving in from structural damage.

The shinobi was a dark-skinned male of average height with a slightly muscular build. He wore a cloak over his white, one shouldered flak jacket and had a katana strapped to his back. A gust of wind blew the rain straight into his face.

'_Gah how on earth did I end up in Amegakure? I was sure we went a completely different way. Almost like something intervened and sent me here. Huh, I feel like I'm being observed or something.'_

The shinobi wiped the rain off his face and then formed the ram hand sign to focus. He closed his eyes and sent out a few pulses of chakra.

'_Hm, guess it was just my imagination; picking up traces of something though, something big.'_

The shinobi slowly drew his katana and made his way over to the house that contained the chakra traces. He hadn't sensed anyone, but Amegakure was an active warzone and one could never be too careful. He silently opened the door and slipped into the shadows, katana held in front ready to strike. Not until he had methodically checked every room for traps or ambushes did he sheathe his katana and begin to investigate, still on high alert and routinely sending out pulses to check for any newcomers. Most of the house was ordinary for the war-torn region; the home abandoned and raided for supplies. What stood out was the hallway, in which several dry bloodspots and two corpses lay. The corpses wore green flak jackets with red spiral designs on the back and shoulders, and their forehead protectors bore the tell-tale circular symbol with a triangle off its bottom left corner that signified shinobi of Konoha.

'_No signs of traps, no damage to the house from explosives or ninjutsu, and these bodies don't have any taijutsu, weapon, or normal jutsu damage either. They died with kunai in hand so they weren't taken off guard. Konoha has some of the strongest shinobi. Who could have done this?'_

The ninja formed the ram hand sign again and picked up the traces of chakra that had led him here, and cautiously set out in that direction.

-Uchiha Compound, 7 years after Kyuubi Attack-

A cold wind blew through the window. A young, dark-haired boy, around twelve or thirteen, stood in a dark room illuminated only by the pale moon in the window. Standing between him and the window was a taller, older, and similarly dark-haired young man. The boy wasn't entirely sure why he had been called here, but he held his questions as the man began to speak.

"Once appeared a nine tailed demon fox, whose mighty tails could level mountains and cause tsunamis. To fight the demon the village assembled all the shinobi from the village; one brave shinobi managed to seal up the demon but because of that lost his life. That shinobi was called Yondaime Hokage….

And so the story goes. What they never told you, Itachi, is why the Fourth chose that particular child to seal the demon in. And let me now show you why."

The world blurred around Itachi except for the blood red orbs and black windmills of Shisui's sharingan. Itachi almost gasped as he plunged into the dark void below. He slowly opened his eyes and found himself in the familiar office of the Hokage. There, he saw two men and a woman, all around their mid-fifties, standing behind the Hokage's desk as a younger Shisui knelt before them. He soon recognized them as Sandaime Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen, with the village elders, Utatane Koharu, and Mitokado Homura.

"The son of Yondaime _and_ the last Uzumaki? Then why…?"

Homura and Koharu locked eyes with Shisui, their eyes narrowed with no expression on their face. Homura responded gravely to Shisui's question.

"It is _because _he's the Fourth's son and last Uzumaki we need you to do this."

Koharu explained more fully, her tone every bit as serious as Homura's. "If one of the other villages were to discover this, they'd spare no resources on an assassination or kidnapping. This we cannot allow. As a jinchūriki, last of a powerful clan, and son of a Hokage, he will draw too much attention and put the village at risk."

Shisui stared blankly. This made no sense. Why couldn't they just train him like all the other clan and jinchūriki kids? No other village tried hiding their jinchūriki like this. "Surely we have someone who could watch over and protect him? Why not Jiraiya-sama? Or how about Yondaime's student Kakashi-san? Maybe even Itachi's family, weren't Kushina and Mikoto best friends?" _'Even putting him under __Da__nzō would be better than this.'_

Homura shook his head. "Impossible. We simply can't spare anyone strong enough to guarantee his safety. We especially need Jiraiya with Yondaime gone, and Kakashi's in ANBU; similarly Fugaku's a clan head and head of the police so he and Mikoto will be far too busy. Mikoto just had Sasuke after all, they'll have it hard enough finding time for their own son, let alone someone else's."

Koharu nodded in agreement and added another reason. "Besides, it's not about Naruto. The constant infiltration attempts will become a risk to the entire village. If one were to succeed, who knows what that village might do next with our defenses cracked?"

Shisui could see their points but he still couldn't believe this was necessary. Surely there was a better way? "I…guess that makes sense. Still, this doesn't seem right. Hokage-sama, is this what you intend?"

Hiruzen stared blankly for a moment before looking up, as if deep in thought. He hadn't moved the entire conversation, were it not for his reputation Shisui would've questioned whether or not he was even paying close attention.

"Yes Shisui, this is my decision. I regret that we can't give the Fourth's son the life he deserves, but we must put the good of the village first."

Homura jumped in the moment the Third stopped. "Exactly, which is why Shisui, we need you to wipe the connection between Naruto and Yondaime and all knowledge of the Uzumakis from the village's mind."

Itachi blinked twice before he looked back at Shisui, now several years older.

"What are you saying?"

Shisui stared down at Itachi before continuing: "It was a mistake, and I should have noticed it then. The strange laws afterwards. The policies on Naruto, who wasn't assigned a single guardian. Why did Sandaime retire? Why did Danzō, constantly at odds with Sandaime, immediately support his return? Sandaime's mind had been slipping. That's why he retired unlike most other kages. By the attack, Sandaime didn't even realize that Danzō was manipulating him. He was nothing more than a puppet. Only, Danzō isn't thinking any clearer than Sandaime. I followed the order, thinking they'd assign someone to watch Naruto and start training him immediately. I thought maybe Danzō wanted Naruto for himself; turn him into an elite agent. But no one, besides occasionally Sandaime, even watched over Naruto much less trained him. What's more, they let the villagers remember the Kyūbi but forbade them to speak of it, causing Naruto to suffer resentment for reasons he'll never know. I've lost faith in this village Itachi. The leaders have lost touch with the will of the founders. The people we should look to as heroes and train as our best are covered up, resented, and ignored."

Itachi slightly raised an eyebrow, warily awaiting Shisui's next thoughts "But what can we do?"

Shisui never broke eye contact with Itachi, his voice softer but resolute. "For ourselves, nothing. We could never abandon this village we've worked so hard to protect. However, the will of fire passes to the next generation, we should ensure they have a better future than we."

Itachi had an idea of where Shisui might be heading, but he immediately stopped that train of thought. No loyal shinobi, much less Shisui, would suggest _that_. "What do you suggest?"

Shisui turned away from Itachi and walked towards the open window. As he gazed out at the moon, dark clouds began floating across the sky, a shadow creeping up over Shisui, half obscuring him in black. Shisui's voice dropped as he replied,

"There is another village that would appreciate the talents of Konoha's children far more than Konoha ever will."

Itachi's eyes narrowed as his Sharingan activated, his body tensing as he realized Shisui's intentions. A rock lodged in Itachi's throat as he struggled with the thought. Shisui couldn't be serious.

"That's a betrayal of our village, everything we stand for."

Shisui spun around with frightening speed, startling even Itachi, his calm demeanor gone, his eyes burning bright.

"Open your eyes Itachi. How does the village treat Naruto? Or how about the newest Hyūga kids, one abandoned more everyday while the other branded with a curse seal? Or how about your own brother? How does your father treat him? What kind of a life will these kids have?"

Itachi almost flinched from the sheer intensity emanating from Shisui. He took a moment to compose himself, but chose not to suppress the fear. That anxiety would prove useful if the worst came to pass.

"Jinchūriki…kekkei genkai…these abilities are feared everywhere Shisui…not just in the Leaf. They might not have the best life here, but they certainly will do no better anywhere else."

"That, Itachi, is where you are wrong. You mean well but just listen to me for a moment. I've thought about this for a long time, and am not doing this blindly. There is in fact an opportunity for a better life. Kumogakure instituted a policy a while back that they would accept anyone into their village, from poor orphans to rejected children. Surely you've heard of the three new jounin of Kumogakure, called 'the new sannin?' I've discovered they were once orphaned refugees from another nation, their parents killed by the warring villages and they themselves abandoned by their countrymen. The Cloud treats their ninja well, and has a camaraderie rivaling Konoha's. Here…"

Shisui tossed an object at Itachi. Itachi almost moved to defend himself, but his Sharingan predicted a non-offensive path from the projectile. Itachi deftly caught the object out of the air and found himself holding a notebook. He opened it and found ANBU information regarding Kumogakure's recent 'foreign recruitment program.' '_Hm, they even went out of their way to save bloodline kids from Kirigakure.'_

"I'll leave you to your thoughts for now. Come to me within a week should you decide to help me forge a brighter future."

Itachi caught only a tiny flicker. Before Itachi could respond, Shisui had vanished.

-Outside Hyūga Compound, Midnight, One week later-

"How dull" Darui muttered under his breath as he moved silently toward the Hyūga compound. The dark Kumo ninja wasn't sure why the boss agreed to this, but Darui wasn't going to question an order from the Raikage, even if the Raikage himself didn't fully agree with it.

As Darui prepared to leap over the Hyūga compound wall, he heard a soft ruffling in the bushes behind him. He jumped to the left as fast as he could, barely avoiding the shuriken that implanted themselves in the wall. He quickly turned to face his attacker, cleaver drawn, finding not one but two dark haired figures behind him. If Darui had any doubt as to their purpose, it was dispelled as he noticed the distinctive crimson eyes with three tomoes of the Uchiha clan.

"Konoha police? Well this mission's ending will be quite dull. I'm sorry boss looks like this is the end for me."

Darui prepared to fight for his life; however, he realized after a minute neither Uchiha had entered a combat stance.

The taller Uchiha spoke first. "You did know Hyūga Hiashi was watching you right?"

Darui deadpanned as he realized how foolish his plan had been. _'How dull, we would forget who we're stealing from wouldn't we.'_

"It's dull, but I guess I have to fight you guys and escape now?"

Darui remained ready for battle, though he was somewhat confused, as still neither Uchiha had made any indication they wished to fight beyond the first shuriken.

"That, or you can listen to our proposal."

Darui was confused at what these policemen had in mind. They couldn't possibly think someone loyal enough for a suicide mission in the Hyūga compound would consider turning traitor.

"I won't betra…."

The shorter Uchiha cut him off.

"How would you like the son of Yondaime and the last Uzumaki along with an Uchiha?"

Darui's jaw dropped. The son of Konoha's Yellow Flash and an Uzumaki like the one Kumo had tried kidnapping years ago _plus_ another powerful doujutsu? _Now_ he was _really _confused.

"You guys have to be messing with me."

The shorter Uchiha spoke again, his voice dead serious.

"If we were trying to kill you, we would have let you jump over that wall. You can come with us or you will be captured or killed."

Darui still couldn't believe his ears, but the young Uchiha made sense. They had no need for such an elaborate plot when they could just kill him now, so he really didn't have much choice.

"Uh fine, lead the way."

Inside the compound Hiashi deactivated his Byakugan as two Uchihas confronted the lone Kumo ninja. _'Itachi and Shisui, two of the most talented and most loyal shinobi in Konoha. They are more than enough to handle one foreigner.'_ With that Hiashi returned to bed.

Hiashi missed the tiny, almost silent foot steps down the hall. There stood a small dark-haired girl, hands by her lip with an active Byakugan.

"N-Naruto-kun…"

-In the Forest outside Konoha-

Darui's jaw dropped as the taller Uchiha put down a blond-haired boy with whiskers, the spitting image of Konoha's Yellow Flash. Even without being a sensor, Darui could feel the chakra emanating from him.

"How much chakra does this kid have?"

"Quite a bit, as expected since he's the Kyūbi jinchūriki."

Darui's jaw dropped even further.

A clone of the younger Uchiha who had escorted Darui out of the village appeared holding a young boy who himself looked like a younger clone of the Uchiha. The clone placed the Uchiha child next to the blond boy and dispelled. The taller Uchiha waved his hand over the two boys.

"May I introduce Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, and Hinata Hyūga."

"Wait who?"

Darui's jaw dropped as the taller Uchiha pointed at a tree back towards the village, and he saw a tiny, dark-haired girl with distinctive white eyes peering out from behind it.

The shorter Uchiha explained. "I see, so that wasn't Hiashi watching us."

-Flashback-Back at the Hyūga Compound-

_Hinata watched as the three figures stood watching each other. She recognized the leaf headbands on two of them, but couldn't identify the symbol on the headband of the third. She was afraid they were going to fight when they all turned and started walking away. The shorter Konoha ninja made a clone, who left the group, and then started walking with the unknown ninja towards the village gates. The taller Konoha ninja, however, separated from the group. Hinata nervously put her fingers together as she realized where he was heading._

"_T-that's where N-Naruto-kun's house is…"_

_The young girl was almost frozen in fright…but she couldn't stay home. What if Naruto was in danger? No one looks out for Naruto; if he were in trouble no one would come to help in. Hinata couldn't help herself as she quietly moved to the Hy__ū__ga compound entrance and slipped off after the taller Konoha ninja._

_Shisui slowed his pace so that his young tail could keep pace with him. '_The Hyūga heiress? She also won't have the best treatment if left here. Very well, we shall send Kumo a team of three.'

-Back in the present-

Darui almost had a heart attack at this point. He fully expected to wake up from the dream any moment now. No wait, the Uchiha's must have put him in a genjutsu for their cruel pleasure. _'Konoha must sure be dull if they have to torture me for fun.'_

The taller Uchiha walked up to the young girl, visibly trembling with fright.

"W-where are you t-taking N-Naruto-kun?"

The Uchiha reached out towards the young girl and lightly tapped the back of her neck with a knife hand. "Don't worry, everything will be alright."

The taller Uchiha walked back over with the now unconscious Hyuuga girl. He laid her down next to the two boys, kneeled in front of the children, and closed his eyes.

"Are you sure about this Shisui? That technique strains you immensely."

"It's necessary for this to work. Keep a sharp eye out, Itachi."

Itachi vanished leaving Darui with Shisui and the three children. '_Itachi and Shisui? The two genius Uchihas? Yep, definitely genjutsu._'

Shisui opened his eyes. Darui noticed an immediate change. Gone were the three tomoe that characterized the sharingan, replaced with a black pinwheel design.

"Kotoamatsukami."

Darui was about to Kai (release) when he realized Shisui was looking at the three children.

"Um what are you doing?"

"Cheating. When you arrive they'll believe they've grown up in Kumogakure."

Darui's eyes narrowed. "Won't a genjutsu wear off after a certain time?" '_Could they be offering these kids as sleeper agents?'_

Shisui shook his head. "Not this genjutsu. This is the strongest genjutsu in existence. A genjutsu so strong the victim's mind believes in the genjutsu as its own thoughts."

Darui's eyes widened. Were he talking to anyone other than a true master of the Sharingan he wouldn't believe what he was hearing. _'Planting thoughts in the minds of others without them realizing it. To think such a powerful genjutsu exists. So this is the power of the Uchiha.'_

Itachi reappeared, a kunai in hand.

"Shisui, they're here."

Shisui closed his eyes and stood up. He looked weary, sweat dripping down his forehead. He was breathing heavily and Darui saw blood streaming down from his left eye. _'It seems that technique is not without risks.'_

"That's fine, I've finished here." He turned his head and looked at Darui, his eyes once again the Sharingan Darui was familiar with.

"Go now, rejoin your team, and treat your charges well. Raise them to be great ninja, and preserve our will of fire."

Darui nodded, though he didn't understand the part about a 'will of fire.' He stooped down, gathered up Hinata and Naruto in one arm and Sasuke in the other, and vanished.

Darui left just in the nick of time as four shinobi wearing ANBU gear with tantos on their backs and masks on their faces appeared. Their masks each bore the character "Ne" for root.

Shisui's eyes narrowed as he prepared for battle. A kunai appeared in his hand.

"Let's go Itachi," said Shisui, leaves appearing where he had just stood a moment ago.

-A river not far from Konoha-

An elderly man stood over Shisui as Shisui lay unmoving on the riverbank. Shisui was panting, his body refusing to move. He could feel pain everywhere, was seeing doubles of everything, and the world was growing darker every moment.

"You're the last person I'd expect to betray the village, Shisui-san. What you've done will devastate Konoha's future potential. I'm curious to your reasons, and the identity of your partner."

Shisui's mouth curled into a smirk, despite the immense pain.

"You've been extinguishing Konoha's will of fire since the newest flame started. I've done what was necessary to preserve that will, and turn it into a bright beacon. As for my partner, let's just say in a bit it will no longer matter; with what you're planning."

The old man closed his eyes and shook his head.

"Or a thunderous storm that will destroy Konoha. Shisui you are an enemy of this village now and as Konoha's protector I will end you. However, I will take your eye; you may find redemption as your techniques will continue to protect Konoha."

Further away Itachi stood over the bloodied bodies of the final Root agents. Say what you would about Danzō, he knew how to train strong shinobi. Unfortunately for them, they were facing Itachi Uchiha, genius of the Uchiha clan and master of the Sharingan, no one would report to Danzō tonight. Itachi turned and set off to find Shisui…

Itachi arrived to find Shisui lying on the bank of the river, unmoving, battered, and blood streaming from his closed right eye socket. Itachi rushed over to his friend's side and checked his pulse. As he did Shisui's left eye opened and he began coughing.

"It's…too late *cough* for me now Itachi. I've already…written this."

Shisui's arm slowly rose. Itachi moved to take the note out of Shisui's trembling hand. Shisui slowly nodded.

"Make it…convincing. Danzō took…my eye. Take my other. Protect….our will of fire. Thank you…Itachi."

With that Shisui's eye closed and his body slumped back. Itachi closed his eyes as rain started falling around him. It was unclear whether the drops on his cheek were rain or tears.

-Raikage's Office, Kumogakure, One week later-

The huge muscular form of the fourth Raikage stood behind a stone desk, curling an enormous weight in his hand. A cricket leaped onto his hand, causing him to pause for a moment before placing the cricket on his desk. '_A good omen? Hopefully so, Darui's taken too long to get back.' _He resumed his workout as a male shinobi in the white flak jacket of Kumogakure appeared, kneeling before him.

"Darui has returned, Raikage-sama."

The Raikage continued curling the weight as he bellowed out.

"Very well, send him in!"

The door slowly opened as Darui stepped into the room. So far he gave the Raikage no need to fear, as he bore no sign of injury or even fatigue beyond that of travelling. He had the same laid-back expression on his face as always, but the Raikage could swear he was holding back a huge grin.

"Sorry for taking so long boss, but we picked up a little something extra on the way. It'll be dull, but let me tell you the whole story. You're not going to believe this."

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><p>Jutsu List<p>

Kotoamatsukami (aka Inception): The ultimate genjutsu granted by Shisui's Mangekyo Sharingan that allows him to manipulate targets by entering their minds and creating false experiences. It's considered genjutsu of the highest class as the subject is unaware that they're being manipulated.


	2. Chapter 1: Uzumaki Naruto: Next Raikage!

Author's Note: Whoot! Made the first chapter! I warn you I did not read over this nearly as carefully or as many times as the prologue...there could be rampant mistakes and a lower over quality of articulation. No mizuki equivalent...didn't feel it served any purpose in the context of the fic. Therefore not a terribly high amount of action, sorry. Interesting, I'm not typing the author's note hawaiian slang kine this time...

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><p>Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Thus why I am still in school and accepting a minimum wage part time job. Some of us can't get paid to write stuff, Kishimoto. Lol I'm kidding writing for my living would be terrible since it's too hard for me...<p>

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><p><strong>Chapter 1: Uzumaki Naruto: The Next Raikage!<strong>

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><p>-Kumogakure-12 years after the Kyūbi Attack-<p>

The bright sun shone down on the village resting in a mountain range. All the buildings were built surrounding mountain peaks or into the mountains themselves, occasionally obscured by a few small clouds passing by. Among them one large, blue, cylindrical structure stood out, built into the tallest mountain. The blue structure, which contained the office of the Raikage, was marked today by the abnormally high amount of twelve-year old visitors, all wearing the forehead protectors with the symbol of Kumogakure and covered in prodigious amounts of paint and occasional tears.

A fair-skinned, male Kumo ninja, wearing a black, high-collared outfit under the distinctive white, single-strapped flak jacket of Kumogakure, a black eye-patch over his left eye, and a black hat with a Kumo forehead protector built into it pushed the door open as he ran into the office of the Raikage. He stopped and knelt in front of the stone desk behind which stood the massively muscular form of the Raikage, curling a massive weight with his left arm.

"Raikage-sama! We have a problem!"

The Raikage put down his weight and looked at the Kumo ninja kneeling before him. His body tensed as he felt a fire burning up from his stomach. He clenched his left hand into a fist in front of his upper torso, then proceeded to smash the stone stable in front of him, his eyes white balls of anger.

"What is it Dodai? Did B run off again? This time he'll taste my Iron Claw!"

"No Raikage-sama! It's…"

As Dodai was about to explain, a few of the twelve year old children burst through the door, tears streaming down their eyes.

"Raikage-sama! Raikage-sama! Someone covered us all in paint!"

The Raikage's face of rage immediately flashed into confusion.

"What?"

Dodai looked up at the Raikage before explaining.

"N-not just them, Raikage-sama. It seems someone snuck into the genin training grounds and threw water-balloons filled with paint at the genin. Every genin is covered in paint!"

The Raikage held his head with his hand, half in frustration and half to suppress amusement. Someone able to hit all the genin with paint-filled water balloons and not being dragged into the office at the moment?

"Only one person could have done this."

Dodai eyes widened as the realization hit him.

"It must have been…"

-Outside in the Village-

"NARUTO!"

The blond-haired boy around twelve years old, wearing a black shirt and orange pants with an orange windbreaker wrapped around his waist, chuckled as he leapt across the buildings of Kumogakure, a bag of paint-filled water balloons in hand. Chasing him was a twenty-two year old kunoichi with straight blond hair and dark eyes, wearing a short-sleeved black and purple blouse, black pants with a cloud design on them and a red belt, and purple fingerless gloves with a chain of white beads wrapped around her left hand. Naruto looked back at his pursuer, spit out his tongue with his eyes closed as he taunted her.

"Heh heh heh, catch me if you can Yugi-onē-san! Bet you can't, cause no one other than me could do this and get away. I'm incredible!"

Yugito opened her mouth to yell again, but stopped as her mouth curled into a smirk. Naruto stared back at her in a moment of confusion, then turned to see where he was headed.

_BAM!_

Naruto turned just in time to slam face first into the side of a mountain, afterwards falling flat on his back on top of the building surrounding that mountain. He lay there for a moment dazed before a shadow fell over him, Yugito's body blocking the sun.

"Heh heh," Naruto laughed nervously, "Hi Yugi-onē-san, what are you doing here?"

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><p>-In the Kumogakure Academy-<p>

Naruto plopped down on the academy desk, leaning over it nursing his black eye from the collision and the bump on the back of his head when Yugi-onē-san realized he was tuning out her lecture. Dodai leaned back against the blackboard of the front of the class, eye closed and shaking his head.

"Well now that Naruto-kun has decided to rejoin us, we can begin the next lesson."

Dodai turned to starting writing on the board, his voice droning into an endless stream of monotony. Naruto couldn't stand this, sitting still doing nothing as all the genin were training outside. He let his mind and eyes wander as Dodai's words flooded over and past him.

Most of the class was unremarkable, average academy students either busily scribbling down notes or trying to hide their painfully obvious conversations from Dodai. Two rows in front of him and three seats to the left sat Sasuke, a boy with spiky, dark hair, dark eyes, and a perpetually serious expression. He sat there, wearing a blue shirt, white shorts, and arm warmers, arms folded as he watched Dodai attentively. Naruto half-heartedly scowled, on one hand he knew Sasuke as far back as he could remember and they could be decent friends at times. But on the other hand….

'_That jerk, always acting so cool, showing off, and making me look bad.'_

Naruto turned away and looked around the room. Directly across the walkway that split the room in half from him were two kids that caught Naruto's eye for some reason. There was a pale, slender young girl with long, black hair and dark brown eyes, wearing a short, blue kimono with white edges held by a green brown obi. _'She's really cute, and I feel some sort of connection to her, weird.'_ Sitting next to her was a pale boy with vivid, green eyes, shoulder-length white hair, and two red dots on his forehead. He was wearing normal Kumo clothing and chatting quietly with the girl. _'I guess they must be friends.'_ Sitting in the back row was a young girl, resting her head in her arms folded across her desk. She had untamed pink hair under a black hat, and was wearing a tan tunic with black shorts. Also noticeable was the fact that no student was willing to sit next to her. _'She looks lonely, maybe I should talk to her sometime.'_ Towards the front of the class there were three more kids who caught Naruto's eye. There was a young, dark-skinned boy with short, spiky white hair sucking on a lollipop with a thoughtful expression. He wore a dark, overlong shirt with a hood and red bandage hand guards. Naruto could hear him talk a bit, he seemed to be worrying about something. Arguing with him was a dark-skinned young girl with red hair and amber eyes, wearing a long, short sleeved dress, fishnet leggings, and white boots. Sitting next to them and trying to ignore their arguments was a tall, faired skinned and blond-haired girl. She wore a low cut outfit with mesh underneath, a short skirt, red hand guards, and high boots. She was also _very _well developed for their age, if Naruto cared about such things.

"H-hello Naruto-kun."

Naruto almost shot up with surprise and turned to find a dark-haired girl with white eyes that had a tinge of lavender, wearing a cream-colored and hooded-jacket with fur around the cuffs and hem and navy blue pants. She blushed slightly as Naruto looked at her, though this was lost on Naruto, and she was nervously putting her fingers together. Naruto sheepishly grinned and put his hand behind his head.

"Oh hey Hinata, didn't see you there."

Naruto was glad Hinata sat next to him. She and Sasuke were the only two people he really knew in the academy, as he lived in the same apartment complex as them, and he generally preferred Hinata's company to that show-off Sasuke even if she did act a bit weird and shy around him, for reasons he couldn't figure.

"All right and if you remember all these instructions, you _probably_ won't go home bruised and sore today. Now everyone line up and head to the gym for kenjutsu practice."

Naruto spun around to face the front of the class as his eyes widened in surprise. Kenjutsu practice? Is that what Dodai-sensei was talking about this whole time? Naruto missed the beginning and thus tuned out the entire lecture, and now realized everyone was going to find that out as they beat him down. However, Naruto could generally win physical exercises by just outlasting his opponents, hopefully this was one of those exercises.

The class entered a large room of a traditional style, with shogi doors and tatami floors. On one wall there were racks and racks of wooden practice weapons of every size and style, from daggers to nodachi, with even some more exotic weapons such as broadswords, cleavers, staves, and nunchaku. In the center of the room was a marked square area with sides around eleven meters. Dodai waved the academy students into the room and motioned for them to sit down along one of the side walls.

"All right, when called you will pick a weapon and enter the arena to see what you've learned. Otherwise you will sit patiently and quietly on this wall. First up, Sasuke and Karui."

Sasuke stood up silently and walked over to the weapon wall, hands in his pockets. He surveyed the rack for a moment, then picked a wooden chokutō and walked over to the ring. He looked over at Karui and smirked.

"Come on now, are you going to fight?"

Several of the girls in the class had hearts in their eyes at the sight of the cool, young Sasuke standing in the ring, one hand in his pocket, the other holding the chokutō resting on his shoulder.

"Go Sasuke-kun!" "Sasuke-kun you're so cool!" "I love you Sasuke-kun"

Dodai sweat-dropped at the young girls fawning over his student. The boy sitting next to Karui immediately starting thinking.

"Oh man Karui, he looks confident and everyone loves him. What if he's secretly a master of some ancient sword style and he hits you on the head, which creates a blood clot in your head that grows and kills you?"

"Shut up Omoi!"

Karui knocked Omoi over the head before walking over, grabbing a long bokken and jumping into the ring.

"I won't lose to a pretty boy like you!"

Dodai stood in between and behind the two academy students.

"All right rules are first to three points, I'm the final judge of all matches."

Dodai put his hand in between the students.

"Ready, begin!"

Karui immediately rushed in with an overhead slash.

"Take this! Ha!"

Sasuke, keeping on the balls of his feet, stepped to the right and forward, bringing him to Karui's side. He took his chokutō in his left hand, pulled it up to his right shoulder, then swung out to his left, striking Karui in the back.

"Gah!"

Karui stumbled forward from the impact.

"One point, Sasuke!"

Karui quickly turned around to face Sasuke, bokken held with both hands, upright in front of Karui's face. _'He dodged very quickly but early, I think I can use that.'_

Karui raised her hands, holding her bokken above her head again, and once again charged with an overhead slash. Sasuke again stepped forward and to the right as Karui moved to slash, but instead Karui stepped to the right and swung her bokken to the left. Her bokken and Sasuke's chokutō both caught each other's left arms.

"Two points, Sasuke, one point, Karui!"

Karui rubbed her left arm for a moment before returning to her stance. However, Sasuke picked up on this and immediately rushed forward. Karui's eyes widened and she jumped back. However, Sasuke hadn't slashed yet, the charge forward being a feint, and took another step before swing his chokutō into Karui's side.

"Gah!"

Karui fell to the ground, dropping her bokken. She held her side in pain before she looked up to see Sasuke's hand extended. She grimaced for second, then smiled and grabbed Sasuke's hand as he helped her up.

"Winner Sasuke!"

Sasuke and Karui walked over and placed their swords back on the rack as the majority of females in the class continued to fawn over their 'Sasuke-kun' and his amazing victory. Dark clouds gathered over Naruto's head as he realized…he had absolutely no idea how to do this.

'_Aw man, Sasuke made it look so easy. Is this what Dodai-sensei was talking about? I'm going to get crushed!'_

Hinata could tell something was bothering Naruto. She was torn whether or not to bring it up and try to help him, or to let him deal with it and not embarrass him.

'_N-Naruto-kun…'_

"Up next, Hinata and Omoi."

Hinata gasped and looked forward as her name was called to see Dodai looking at her. Her legs almost started trembling as she realized it was her turn.

Naruto turned to see Hinata on the verge of trembling. _'Oh whew, looks like everyone's as nervous as I am. Haha guess I was dumb for worrying, I'll be fine.'_

"Good luck Hinata! You'll do great!"

Hinata's eyes widened and she turned to see Naruto sheepishly grinning at her. She blushed but then steeled herself and stood up, her face slightly more resolute.

"T-thank you N-Naruto-kun."

Hinata walked over and started searching the weapon rack for something that suited her.

Omoi stared at the ground and continued to suck on his lollipop as his name was called.

"Oh man, what if she's secretly the heiress of some super-strong clan and has some awesome bloodline ability. What if she can hit me once and it somehow disrupts my chakra flow and my chakra overloads near my heart and I get a heart attack from a hit so soft I didn't even notice it and…"

_BAM!_

Omoi rubbed his head where Karui had punched him.

"Shut up you idiot! Just grab a sword and remember your lessons and you'll do fine."

Omoi muttered under his breath as he reluctantly stood up and headed over to the weapon rack.

"Says the one who got beat in her match and is probably going to get liver damage from that side slash and…"

Omoi reached for a long bokken like the one Karui used. He turned to see Hinata testing the weight of a bokken the size of a kodachi before nodding and heading to the ring.

'_Aw man a kodachi? Great defense, it'll be really hard to get a hit on her.'_

Hinata and Omoi stood across from each other in the ring as Dodai prepared to start the match.

"Ready, begin!"

Omoi started with a cautious slash, just bring the tip of his sword in range of Hinata.

'_Hopefully I can see how she reacts.'_

Hinata gasped and quickly blocked with her kodachi before trying to back up. Omoi was surprised, it seemed like she wasn't ready to fight. Omoi pressed his advantage and pretended to slash high, but then slashed mid. His bokken passed under her kodachi and slammed into her side. Hinata gasped in pain as she fell over.

"One point, Omoi!"

Hinata looked up at Omoi in fear. She couldn't beat this guy. She tried paying attention in class but her body wouldn't move and her mind had frozen. She barely moved her sword and mis-judged Omoi's attack. She was only going to get beaten and hurt. She felt like giving up.

"Come on Hinata!"

Hinata turned to see Naruto waving at her and cheering.

'_That's right, N-Naruto-kun is watching me. I can't just give up!'_

Hinata stood back up and prepared a stance.

Omoi charged and slashed again, expecting the same reaction. However, this time instead of blocking the strike, Hinata ducked and slid under the blade, swinging her kodachi and catching Omoi in the knee.

"Oof!"

Omoi fell to one knee from the pain.

"One point, Hinata!"

Omoi stood up and tried to analyze the situation.

'_Aw man, her kodachi is much faster and works at a range my katana can't. That means I can't let her get close to me, so I have to make sure my strikes hit.'_

Omoi charged forward and slashed at Hinata's legs. Hinata tried to jump above the slash but Omoi turned it upwards.

_CRACK!_

Hinata's kodachi collided with Omoi's bokken as she blocked the strike. She then slid her kodachi down Omoi's blade, catching Omoi in the side of the mouth.

"Yea Hinata! Keep going!"

"Two points, Hinata!"

Dodai smiled as he watched Naruto cheer for the girl who was starting to realize she could win.

'_That Naruto is something special, even at such a young age he's inspiring his friend to fight.'_

"Come on Omoi! Don't let her just beat you like that!"

Karui yelled, almost standing up. Omoi couldn't lose too, not after she already did.

Omoi stood up and prepared himself one more.

'_One more and I lose. Need to make this one count.'_

Omoi charged forward, with his sword held back ready to slash sideways. Hinata begin moving to the side again, ready to move under Omoi's slash. However, this time Omoi held back his strike until Hinata moved, then slashed when she was in motion, aiming for her hand to disarm her.

Hinata released her kodachi as Omoi slashed, then reached up and grabbed her kodachi backhanded as it fell.

"Ha!"

Hinata spun quickly, her kodachi slamming into Omoi's side and knocking him to the ground.

"Winner, Hinata!"

"Whoo! Yea! Good job Hinata!"

Hinata blushed and smiled as Naruto jumped up in excitement, then moved over to where Omoi was laying.

"I-I'm sorry, a-are you alright?"

Omoi layed there a second longer then sat up.

"Aw man, I knew this was going to happen. Good job though, I'm glad you're on our side."

Hinata helped Omoi stand up and they both placed their weapons back on the rack and sat down.

"Next, Kimimaro and Naruto!"

"All right let's go! There's no way I'm going to lose dattebayo!"

Naruto jumped up and pumped his fist into the air. Hinata giggled and smiled at his amazing confidence, completely unaware Naruto had absolutely no idea how to dodge correctly as Dodai taught in the lesson.

The girl next to Kimimaro let out a small chuckle as well at Naruto's outburst.

"He seems quite confident, Kimimaro-kun."

"That he does, Haku-chan. I'll be careful."

Kimimaro quietly stood up and walked over to the weapon rack. He picked up a bokken the size of a ko-wakizashi, tested the weight, and then moved to the ring.

Naruto was like a kid in the candy store at the weapon rack, having a very hard time deciding.

"Oh man oh man which awesome weapon should I take? A katana? Two katanas?"

Naruto suddenly stopped and his eyes widened. He had laid his sights on a massive zanbatō, almost twice his height. He grabbed the handle of the zanbatō, lifted it off the rack, and turned to head to the ring, only to fall over from the immense weight.

Dodai chuckled at Naruto's plight.

'_Gets them every time.'_

Naruto stood up, frowned, and pulled at the zanbatō several times before giving up, dejected. Naruto's spirits picked up, though, when he saw a large wooden cleaver.

Naruto stood facing Kimimaro. Naruto struck a pose, resting his cleaver on one shoulder as he turned sideways and pointed at Kimimaro.

"All right! Get ready to get beat by Naruto! The future Raikage!"

Kimimaro just stood silently, preparing for battle, as Dodai started the match.

"Ready, begin!"

"Haaaaaaa!"

Naruto immediately ran towards Kimimaro and took a wild swing at Kimimaro's head, only for Kimimaro to gracefully duck under Naruto's attack and hit the back of Naruto's neck with his ko-wakizashi.

"Oof!"

"One point, Kimimaro!"

Naruto gritted his teeth as he blocked out the pain.

"I'm not done yet!"

Naruto spun as he stood up, jumped in the air, and brought down the cleaver in a massive overhead swing at Kimimaro. Kimimaro stepped to the side at the last possible moment and swung his ko-wakizashi into Naruto's stomach.

"Ack!"

"Two points, Kimimaro!"

Hinata's eyes quivered and she nervous played with her fingers as she watched Naruto take yet another hit.

"N-Naruto-kun…"

'_Darn it! I'm going to lose without hitting this guy once! I can't let this happen, not when Hinata and that jerk Sasuke both won their matches!'_

Naruto stood back up.

"Heh, you're not beating me that easily!"

Kimimaro remained silent as he return to his stance.

"Very well, I will come at you this time."

Kimimaro lept at Naruto, catching Naruto off guard with his surprising speed.

'_Whoa he's fast! Only one chance!'_

Naruto pulled his arms back and swung with all his might at the charging Kimimaro, then everything went black.

"N-Naruto-kun!"

Naruto slowly opened his eyes. He could start to make out a girl with dark hair through the fog as vision started clearing.

"Hinata? Why are there two of you?"

Hinata let out a deep breath that Naruto was ok as Dodai cleared out the academy class surrounding the dazed Naruto.

"One point, Naruto! Winner, Kimimaro!"

Naruto took in the words for a second before their meaning hit him.

"You mean I got him?"

"That you did, and it was a good strike."

Naruto turned his head as he slowly sat up to see Kimimaro standing behind him, rubbing a bruise on his arm where Naruto had hit him.

"Your form needs lots of work, but you put all your heart into that last blow. I'm sorry if my attack hurt you, that was a good match Naruto."

Kimimaro extended his hand. Naruto's mouth curled into a big grin from Kimimaro's compliment as he grabbed Kimimaro's arm.

"Thanks, you fought well too! Haha, yea it was a pretty good strike wasn't it? That's right! Naruto: sword master and one step closer to becoming Raikage!"

The academy class couldn't help but burst out into grins and laughter at Naruto's outburst. Dodai just shook his head.

'_Some kid, his energy is infectious. Even if he didn't learn a thing from my lesson today.'_

* * *

><p>-One Month Later-<p>

"Listen up!"

Naruto bolted up from the wonderful nap that was just interrupted. However, Dodai-sensei was using his 'listen or else' voice so Naruto decided he should pay attention for once.

"As you know, the semester is coming to an end. Therefore, one week from now we'll have our genin exam! This sheet contains all the material that will be on the exam. Prepare well and make us proud!"

Dodai handed out the review sheets to the class.

Omoi studied the sheet nervously before speaking, half to Karui and half to himself.

"Oh man, what if this sheet tells us everything we actually don't need to know and the exam is on everything else, and they actually hold it a few days before this date to trick us and see if we're really prepared or just cramming at the last second and we all fail?"

"Would you shut up! You overanalyze everything!"

On threat of physical pain, Omoi shut his mouth and did the rest of his analysis in silence. Naruto, however, was doing no better than Omoi, his eyes white with fear, sweat streaming down his face and dark rain clouds gathering above his head.

'_Oh no, I don't know any of this! And all these jutsu are the ones I'm the worst at! I'm going to fail for sure.'_

"Um, a-are you ok N-Naruto-kun?"

Naruto snapped out of his misery and turned to look at Hinata.

"Oh, yea of course Hinata! Just a little worried about some of these jutsu, that's all."

Hinata blushed and looked down while fidgeting with her fingers.

"W-well, you could always ask s-some to help you p-practice."

Naruto's face brightened as an epiphany hit him.

"Hey that's a great idea! Thanks Hinata!"

-In the Valley of Clouds and Lightning-

"Poster? Coaster? Roaster?"

A dark-skinned, muscular man with white hair and a goatee stood in a water-filled valley covered in fog and clouds. He wore a white, Kumo forehead protector, oval sunglasses, a white scarf, and a white one-strapped flak jacket. He also had seven swords on his person, and stood writing in a notepad he always carried with him.

"Hey, Octo-san!"

B turned to face the short, blond boy running at him from the direction of the village. He put away the notebook and struck a pose, extending his arms out with his hands pointed down, the backs of the hands facing out as his fingers curled back towards him.

"Yo yo yo, hey little nine! What are ya doing in this valley of mine?"

Naruto landed in front of B, his face almost glowing with excitement. So much excitement, that Naruto even avoided deadpanning at B's rapping.

"Hey Octo-san, since we're both jinchūriki and stuff, I was wondering if you could help me practice some jutsu for the genin exam!"

B thought about it for a moment. On one hand, he had planned to use this week for training and improving his artistic spirit, but on the other hand Yugito was on a mission so no one else could possibly help his fellow jinchūriki master his massive chakra. B realized though, that Naruto was one creative dude, and thus thought of a great compromise.

"All right little nine I'll prepare you for the heat, but first of all, you gotta help me make this beat!"

The excitement drained from Naruto's face as he recalled countless times where he was looped into helping B train his 'artistic spirit.' Naruto's face deadpanned as he inticipated this next session.

'_I had better pass this exam, dattebayo…'_

-In the Kumogakure Academy-Four days later-

"All right class. Take out your pencils and get ready for part one of the genin exam!"

It took every ounce of Dodai's self-control not to burst out laughing as he snapped a photo of his class's faces, all of their jaws nearly touching the ground with the exception of Omoi, who just looked down muttering "oh man, I knew it" over and over again. He could see tears streaming down several of their faces. The pink-haired girl in the back row spoke up first.

"What the hell Dodai-sensei? You said we'd have a %#$-ing week before the exam! It's not &*$-ing fair to give the &$*%ing thing to us now!"

The rest of the class nodded in agreement, though a few of them cringed from the girl's profanity.

Dodai chuckled before locking eyes with the girl, his face once again serious.

"Language, Tayuya-chan. And you think the world of shinobi is fair? Consider this your first test as true ninja. Shinobi must be ready at any moment for anything. Mission conditions can change in a flash and you have to be prepared to handle that."

Naruto just sat there trembling in fear, sweat pouring down his face.

'_I don't know any of this!'_

-Dodai's office-the next day-

Dodai decided to call in each student one at a time to discuss with them the results of their exam. He felt this was the best way as he could help them identify where they needed to work and also whether or not the life of a shinobi was best for them.

"Decent job in the written, but your jutsu weren't acceptable. Work on generating more chakra next time."

The child slowly dragged his feet across the room, his head held low, tears dropping onto the floor.

Dodai let out a sigh. He really hated having to disappoint the young kids like that, but it was for the best. Letting them run off too early and get killed helped no one.

"Next!"

Naruto slid into the room, no hint of his normal cheerful confidence.

"Have a seat."

Naruto slowly slid into the seat in front of Dodai's desk. He nervously grinned and rubbed the back of his head.

"S-so I passed, right Dodai-sensei?"

Dodai closed his eye and let out another sigh as he picked up the papers containing Naruto's results. He really hated to let the kid down, but someone had to look him in the eye and tell him. This was the best way for him to find out.

"Naruto. Your jutsu improved immensely, far better than I had expected them to be. However, your written scores were some of the worst I've ever seen. Were it not for the preponderance of questions on the Third Raikage, you might not have scored anything at all. I can't let you pass, I'm sorry Naruto. Try to study harder and stay awake in class next semester."

Naruto's face fell. He stood up, turned around, and slowly walked out without a word.

Dodai let out another sigh. Yes, sometimes he _really_ hated his job.

"Next!"

-Outside the Academy-

"Hey loser."

Naruto looked up as he was walking out of academy to see Sasuke leaning next to the wall.

"Ugh, what do you want jerk?"

Sasuke stood up from the wall and walked over to Naruto.

"Well what? Did you pass or not?"

Naruto just looked away as Sasuke smirked.

"Well then you should've paid attention in class idiot."

Naruto stared at Sasuke with as much killing intent as he could muster as an academy student, tick mark bulging as he shook his fist in front of his face.

"It's not fair! I worked really hard! Like _really _hard! Harder than you jerk! And Dodai-sensei even said he was really impressed by my jutsu! Stupid written test!"

Sasuke kept smirking as he turned around and started walking away.

"Heh, well if the written test is the only thing holding you back, you should do something to change it."

Naruto's anger vanished as yet another epiphany slammed into his face.

"Yea, I should do something to _change_ it…heh heh well then jerk, we'll see who's a better ninja tomorrow."

As Sasuke stopped for a moment. Naruto must of thought of something for his mood to change that drastically while talking to Sasuke. He wasn't sure what changed in Naruto, but it couldn't change that he failed. While he was curious as to what Naruto was thinking, he decided it was no concern to him.

"Whatever loser, I'll see you later. Some of us have to get our new forehead protectors today."

-Kumogakure Academy-Noon-

"B-but Naruto-kun, won't you get in t-trouble if you're caught?"

Naruto smiled at Hinata and struck a pose.

"Don't worry Hinata-chan! That's why you're here! Besides, I won't get caught, I'm Naruto! Kumogakure's number one ninja!"

Hinata's face went completely red, and she had to remind herself to breath so she wouldn't faint.

'_D-did Naruto-kun just call me Hinata-_chan_? _

"Whoa Hinata! Are you ok? Your face is all red, did you get sunburned or something?"

As Naruto moved closer and pointed at Hinata's face, Hinata lost control of her breathing, and her world went dark.

-Kumogakure Academy-Ten minutes later-

"Hinata? Hey, Hinata!"

Hinata distantly heard the voice of a young boy calling to her. The voice sounded strangely familiar, almost like…

"N-Naruto-kun!"

Hinata bolted forward, consciousness returning to her all at once. Naruto closed his eyes and let out a sigh.

"Whew, you scared me there for a moment Hinata-chan. Did you get de-hydrated or something?"

Upon hearing 'Hinata-chan' again and realizing that wasn't a dream, Hinata's face once again turned completely red. However, her consciousness was saved this time as Naruto had already turned towards the Academy to start his plan. Hinata realized this and quickly moved to fulfill her part of the plan before her breathing stopped once more. She quickly ran around the side of the academy and performed the dog, boar, and then ram hand signs.

"Henge no jutsu!"

-In Dodai's office-

Dodai looked wistfully outside before sitting down to do more paperwork. '_What a beautiful day, you children are lucky you get a lunch break.'_

Right as Dodai was about to begin filling out the first form one his students burst through the door!

"Dodai-sensei! Dodai-sensei! Naruto has a bag full of balloons again! I think he's coming after us again!"

Dodai's eyes narrowed, and he shot up. _'Not again! I knew Naruto-kun would exact revenge eventually but I never expected it to be so soon! This is the day the students take their ID photos, I better stop Naruto now.'_ Dodai looked out the window and indeed, saw Naruto running with a bag full of water balloons, the other kids running and screaming. Dodai darted out of the room, leaving the young student alone in his office.

"Heh heh heh piece of cake! Now where are those exams?"

-Fifteen minutes later-

Dodai walked briskly back to his office, his hand pushing on the back of the young girl trembling with fear, looking down to the side, and fidgeting with her fingers.

"I don't understand Hinata-chan. You were always such a well-behaved young girl. Why pull a stunt like this?"

For reasons Dodai couldn't understand, Hinata blushed more than he thought anyone could blush when he said 'Hinata-chan.'

"U-um, w-well you s-see…."

Dodai thought she was about to faint from the anxiety when he saw the student who had informed of Narut-, ahem, Hinata-chan's antics walk out of the room right past them.

"Oh, hi Hinata-chan! Hi Dodai-sensei!"

'_Strange, he was just waiting quietly in my office for fifteen minutes?'_

Hinata blushed even more as she and Dodai walked into the office. Dodai had Hinata sit down and catch her breath while he walked over to his desk, noticing one of his cabinet drawers was unlocked and one of the papers was sticking out. He reached inside and examined the paper.

Dodai closed his eye and chuckled to himself.

'_So that's what this is about. Very clever Naruto-kun, very clever.'_

"All right Hinata-chan, I think because you've been such a good student and technically you've just graduated the academy and are no longer a student, I'll let you go with a warning."

Dodai looked up to see Hinata could hold on no longer and had already fainted.

-Outside the academy-

The academy student who had just left the academy sat on roof of a building, looking out at the mountains of Kumo.

"He he he, that was so easy! I'm definitely the best ninja ever! Even better than Dodai-sensei!"

"Oh is that right, Naruto-kun?"

The academy student whipped around to see Dodai standing behind him, arms cross with an angry look on his face.

"N-Naruto Dodai-sensei? I'm not Naruto, I'm…"

"Don't lie to me Naruto-kun, I already know what you did, how else would your thirty-percent magically become a perfect score?"

Dodai held the edited written test in the student's face.

The academy student looked down, and then was engulfed in a puff of smoke that left Naruto standing there with a look of pure terror in his eyes.

"Please don't kill me Dodai-sensei! I just wanted to pass! I worked really really hard and I really want to be a ninja so badly!"

Dodai let Naruto ramble for about half a minute before he motioned for Naruto to stop, took a deep breath, and then began.

"Naruto. After realizing your written scores were the main reason you failed, you devised a plan to replace your terrible test scores with perfect ones. You shamelessly recruited Hinata, a quiet and shy girl with absolutely no tendencies toward pranks, to pull off a distraction which, given your own history of pranks, you knew I would fall for. You then had the gall to sneak into my office, sift through my records, and change your own scores, hoping I would think I had made a mistake and call you back to promoted. This was the most sneaky, underhanded, shameless…and I must say brilliant plan an academy student has ever come up with to cheat and pass this exam. For that, I have decided that, just this once, I will make an exception. Oh, you can open your eyes now Naruto, I'm not going to hit you."

Naruto, cringing, opened one eye, noticing something dark in his top peripherarl vision. He reached up to his forehead and felt metal. Dodai smiled at the confused, young boy he had just place a forehead protector on.

"Congratulations Naruto, you pass! Now come back with me to my office, you need to fill out some paperwork and I think Hinata-chan might need some help getting back home."

Joy slowly crept into Naruto's face as understanding reached him and he soon bust out into a full grin and grabbed Dodai in a hug.

"!"

Dodai chuckled and patted the young boy's head.

"Breath Naruto, breath. Oh and one more thing."

Dodai held the altered paper in front of Naruto. He pointed to his own notes, scratched out by Naruto, and then to Naruto's replacement notes. Handwriting aside, there was one clear difference between the two…

"Learn to write kanji!"

* * *

><p><span>Jutsu List<span>

Henge No Jutsu: Transformation jutsu. 'nuff said. If you don't know what that is, hey I heard this guy named Kishimoto is doing a fan-fic of my story here. You guys should check it out.


	3. Chapter 2: You can't just become a Genin

Author's note: (in disdainful British voice) Greetings plebians. I have noticed that while there is a...passable number of visitors, there is a distinct lack of reviews. While I am aware my sheer literary prowess can intimidate those of...lesser mental facilities, be aware I am quite merciful, and will deign to spare you if you demonstrate the courage to voice your feeble opinions to me. I promise not to perform any unspeakable acts of violence as a result of said opinions, so long as they are voiced in a manner consistent with our relative stations.

JK I love you guys. But seriously if you don't write reviews, I shall assume you are too stunned by my literary genius to respond, and shall continue to write under that assumption.

Wow updating much faster than I expected. I expected like once a week...tops. We'll see how long this keeps up. However, the rate of update will most likely decrease in the future, especially on 11-11-11 when a certain Bethseda game is released...

* * *

><p><strong>Disclaimer:<strong> I don't own Naruto. Probably never will. But that's what college is for. With luck, I shall end up with a job that results in obscene amounts of money, which I can use to enact one of my evil plans to obtain the rights. Muahahaha.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 2: You can't just become a genin<strong>

* * *

><p>-Naruto's Apartment-One week after Genin Exam-<p>

_BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!_

Naruto jolted awake. His mouth curled into a huge grin as he realized his first official day as a genin had begun. He had been so excited he barely slept. Naruto tapped his alarm, threw off the covers, got dressed in his signature orange clothing with the addition of his shiny, new Kumo forehead protector, and prepared himself a bowl of cereal. _'Oh man I can't wait! My first day as a real shinobi! This is going to be awesome!'_ Naruto grinned, intently eating his cereal when he glanced at the clock, causing a spew of milk and cereal across the table. _'Oh man! How did I sleep in? I'm going to be late for sure!'_

-Kumogakure Academy-

Naruto slid into the entrance of the door, only to breath a sigh of relief as he saw Dodai-sensei hadn't started yet even though most of the class was already there, sporting their new forehead protectors on their heads, arms, and occasionally waists. He took another breath, recovering from the run across the village, before walking down to his usual seat by Hinata. As he sat down he felt a tap on his shoulder, and turned to see Sasuke standing behind him, smirking as usual.

"Hey loser what are you doing here? I thought you didn't pass this exam."

Naruto smirked and replied back.

"Heh heh, guess they just thought I was too good to pass up! Right, Hinata-chan?"

Naruto turned to Hinata, who giggled and blushed only mildly this time as she nodded her agreement. Sasuke maintained his smirk, un-phased by the surprising turn of events.

"Heh, whatever you say loser. Might want to pay attention this time around. I hear genin have to read their mission assignments."

With that, Sasuke walked forward and took his seat further up the class, leaving Naruto to glare and shake his fist while the girls stared in awe of his cool demeanor.

"Grrr, Sasuke trying to act all cool and show off! Why do the girls all like him? I'm way better than that jerk! You like me better than him, right Hinata-chan?"

Hinata's face went completely red as she started fidgeting with her fingers.

"Well…I-I…."

Luckily for Hinata, Dodai walked into the room holding a clipboard, the look on his face demanding the class's attention. The class calmed down with uncharacteristic speed as they waited for their first day as genin, all eyes locked on to Dodai. Dodai waited a minute to let the suspense build before he opened his mouth to speak.

"First, congratulations to you all! Due to all of your hard work, you have been promoted to the rank of genin and are now officially shinobi of Kumogakure. I hope you'll continue your diligence and make your village and comrades proud. Now to business. As you may know, genin do not stay in the academy; as true ninja you will be placed on squads of three and assigned jōnin sensei, with whom you will train and complete missions with from now on. I will now read off the teams."

Naruto grinned as he started dreaming about the awesome team he was going to get. '_Maybe that cute Haku girl! Oh and Hinata-chan, since she's my best friend in the class!'_

"On Team Lightning: Samui, Karui, and Omoi! Head to training field A."

"Oh man, they named us 'Team Lightning'? What if they're naming the teams based of what they teach us and they only teach us close range raiton jutsu and then we have to fight a bunch of long range fūton jutsu users and we get torn apart and ki…"

_BAM!_

"Would you cut that out! We're going to be on a team so I don't want to hear you overanalyzing everything!"

Samui just closed her eyes and sighed.

"Act cool you two, you're supposed to be ninja now."

"Next on Team Water: Kimimaro, Haku, and Tayuya! Head to training field B."

Kimimaro and Haku just smiled at each other as Tayuya looked up at them from the back of the room.

"Great, the $^#*-ing strongest swordsman in the class and his &#$^-ing girlfriend. Well, as long as they don't end up being weak ^#%$-heads who will get separated from me and let me die for the sake of their 'precious person,' yuck."

Naruto was a little disappointed that he wouldn't be on a team with that cute Haku girl, but still had high hopes for his team.

'_All right, there's still Hinata-chan. As long as I'm not with that jerk, Sasuke.' _

Hinata was again nervously playing with her fingers.

'_P-please let me be on a team with Naruto-kun…'_

"Team Fire: Naruto, Hinata,"

Hinata's face shot up, immediately brightened with a smile on her face. Had Naruto not been in the same room sitting right next to her she might have leapt out of her seat and cried out in joy. She looked at Naruto, face beaming with a slight blush.

Naruto turned to her and smiled.

'_All right! Hinata-chan's on my team! This team's going to be great!'_

"And Sasuke! Head to training field C."

Naruto turned to face forward, glaring at Sasuke before turn to Dodai, standing up and shaking his fist with a face full of rage.

"No way Dodai-sensei! Why the hell do I have to be with that loser!"

Dodai let out a sigh.

"Because, Naruto, that loser as you called him got the best overall scores in the class…which average out your worst ones." _'And because this particular team has been planned for years.'_

Naruto crossed his arms and grunted as the class laughed at his plight. Sasuke turned to face his new teammate.

"Hey loser, try not to slow me down."

Naruto grunted and glared at Sasuke as he followed him to the training field, Hinata following him, playing nervously with her fingers with a slight smile on her face.

-In the Office of the Raikage-

A male jōnin wearing the jōnin garb of Kumogakure entered the Raikage's office, knelt, and then stood up to address his leader.

"You called for me, Raikage-sama?"

The Raikage continued his perpetual weight lifting as he spoke to his jōnin.

"Yes, have you received the information on your new genin squad?"

The jōnin pulled out a folder filled with the grades, comments, and general information on his new team. He wasn't expecting to be leading a team, but the Raikage had requested him personally.

"Yes Raikage-sama, one very talented and confident, one with potential but confidence issues, and one very hardworking but somewhat dense."

"And?"

The jōnin looked back over the files. Something was missing here; this genin squad seemed no different from any other. Certainly not unique enough for Raikage-sama to personally request a shinobi of his caliber and importance.

"What is the true reason you requested me for this team?"

The Raikage closed his eyes in thought for a moment before smiling slightly.

"I guessed you would have figured it out. As you suspected, this is no normal team. Officially their names are Arashi no Sasuke, Arashi no Hinata, and Arashi no Naruto, as is customary of all the children Kumo adopts as its own. However, their original names were Uchiha Sasuke, Hyūga Hinata, and Uzumaki Naruto."

The jōnin's eyes widened in surprise.

"So these are…?"

"Yes these are the children. With two dōjutsu kekkei genkai and an Uzumaki jinchūriki, I felt you were the only one qualified to train this group. There isn't any problem with this?"

"None whatsoever Raikage-sama. What happened, happened, it's all in the past now. Besides, wherever they were from, they are fellow children of Kumogakure now."

The Raikage nodded at this, accepting the jōnin's word.

"Very good, you are dismissed. I'm sure your new team is very excited to meet you."

The jōnin bowed once more before exiting the office, then took one more look at the files of his team. '_Uchiha Sasuke, Hyūga Hinata, and Uzumaki Naruto…' _

-Training Field C-

Naruto had continued glaring at Sasuke the whole way to the field while Sasuke ignored him and Hinata stood between and behind them, watching with a concerned look on her face. The three stood in a large, open area surrounded by mountains on three sides and a steel chain-link fence on the other. The area had some large boulders and varied in elevation with some sparse trees, designed to simulate combat in mountain terrain. A small creek cut through the middle of the area.

"Grrr what's taking him? We've been waiting two hours already!"

Hinata looked down while fidgeting with her fingers.

"I-I'm sure he has a g-good reason to be late, N-Naruto-kun."

Sasuke said nothing, sitting on a boulder resting with his hands folded and supporting his chin. Naruto glared at him once more, then grunted and turned away, arms crossed and eyes closed. Suddenly, the three genin heard footsteps approaching, and turned to face the newcomer. They saw a fair-skinned man who appeared around his thirties. He had red, chin-length hair and wore the traditional shinobi outfit of Kumogakure, complete with the Kumogakure forehead protector and the white, single-strapped flak jacket indicating his rank. Naruto also noticed something strange about the man's eyes, they were light purple with concentric, black circles.

"Good afternoon team. Sorry I'm late, had some things to take care of. So, since we're going to be comrades, why don't you introduce yourselves? Go ahead and say as much as you'd like, name, likes, dislikes, hopes and dreams, answer for world peace, etc. I'll start. I'm Arashi no Nagato. I like practicing ninjutsu and grilled fish and stew, and dislike war and the pain it causes. My dream is to one day find the path to true peace." With that, Nagato nodded at Naruto to begin.

Naruto grinned and adjusted his forehead protector. "I'm Arashi no Naruto, I like cup ramen and all my friends around the village, especially my best friend Hinata-chan!"

Nagato and Sasuke turned to see Hinata lying unconscious on the ground, her face redder than the jōnin's hair. Naruto continued his introduction, blissfully unaware anything had happened.

"I dislike waiting for my ramen to cook, oh and Octo-san's rapping."

Nagato and Sasuke both shuddered and nodded their agreement.

"And my dream is to become Raikage so I can protect all my friends and everyone in the village, dattebayo!"

Nagato smiled at the young boy and then looked to the other two. Hinata was still regaining consciousness so he nodded at Sasuke.

Sasuke still hadn't moved from his position as he replied.

"I'm Arashi no Sasuke. I dislike a lot of things, and like winning. My goal is to become the strongest shinobi in the village."

Nagato nodded once again. "I see." Nagato turned to see Hinata just recovering. Naruto turned and finally realized something had happened.

"Hey Hinata-chan why are you lying on the ground? Are you sleepy or something?"

Hinata blushed and was trying to stammer out a response. Nagato watched their interaction with a strange mix of pity and amusement. '_Heh, so this is what it'll be like is it? Poor girl, I better save her this time.'_

"Hinata was it? Go ahead and introduce yourself."

Hinata turned to look at Nagato a second before comprehending, then tried to compose herself and respond.

"I-I'm Arashi no H-Hinata. I like p-pressing flowers. I d-don't really like c-crabs or shrimp. Um, my dream i-is to become s-strong enough to p-protect… um t-the people I c-care about."

Nagato could swear he saw Hinata glance quickly at Naruto during that last part, and the blush from Hinata seemed to confirm his suspicion, but if so Naruto obviously missed it.

"Very good, now that we're all introduced, let's begin the final test."

The three students stared at Nagato in confusion…well Naruto and Hinata did. Sasuke just raised an eyebrow, which for him was tantamount to the same thing. Naruto said what was on all their minds.

"Test? What test? I thought we already passed the genin exam Nagato-sensei!"

Nagato calmly explained the situation to his team.

"You passed the preliminaries, but these only determine those with potential to become genin. The true genin exam is performed by us jōnin." Nagato chuckled a bit. "You didn't actually think you could just become genin with some book knowledge and a couple E-rank jutsu did you?"

The look on Naruto's face indicated that he had indeed thought just that. Hinata looked worried, while Sasuke just smirked.

"I thought there was more to it than that."

Nagato smiled.

"Well now you seem like a bright one. Tell me, young Sasuke, what more do you think there is to it?"

Sasuke closed his eyes, maintaining his smirk as he continued.

"You're probably going to have us fight you to see if we can handle ourselves in ninja combat."

Nagato chuckled and formed a cross shaped hand sign.

"Well, I guess we can do that if that's what you want. Kage Bunshin no jutsu!"

A puff of smoke surrounded Nagato, clearing to reveal there were now two Nagatos.

"Very well, for your final test you will fight one of my shadow clones. You must defeat him within an hour to pass. As he is a shadow clone, one good solid hit or several minor hits will dispel him, _if_ you can hit him that is. Oh, I should also mention that I'm only allowed to pass two of you. Have to be fair to the other teams and all, so now's the time to show off what you can do. Well, good luck!"

Nagato walked to the side and leaned against a boulder to observe.

The clone walked out a bit and turned to face the three genin.

"Ready, go!"

* * *

><p>The Nagato clone looked around, searching for the ninja that had vanished on the word go. '<em>Hm, it seems like they've hidden themselves well. Well, most of them have anyway.'<em>

The Nagato clone turned to face Naruto, charging straight at him.

"Haaaaaaaa! Take this!"

The Nagato clone easily jumped out of the way of Naruto's wild punch and reached into his pouch. Naruto immediately jumped back as Hinata and Sasuke watched from behind a group of boulders and blended among one of the few trees.

'_N-Naruto-kun! I-is he going to use a weapon?'_

The Nagato clone fished around his pouch and pulled out….a book, written by someone named 'Jiraiya.' The clone opened the page, his eyebrow raised, and he glanced at Naruto once more before returning to the book. _'Hm, that's interesting. Must be a coincidence.'_

Naruto just pointed at the Nagato clone, his eyes huge white orbs of combined shock and rage.

"I-is that a BOOK?"

The Nagato clone glanced up. "Why yes it is. I see you've developed incredible powers of observation, Naruto-kun." The clone returned to the book.

"What the hell are you doing reading a book in a middle of a fight?"

The clone flipped the page. "Well, I want to know how it ends. It really is a great book, you should read it sometime." The clone looked at Naruto once more. "What? Weren't you going to attack? Or are you afraid of the pain it'll cause you?"

Naruto's head nearly burst from rage.

"That's it! I'll teach you to underestimate me, dattebayo!"

With that, Naruto charged once more. The Nagato clone stuck out one hand which palmed Naruto in the face as he charged. Naruto fell to the ground on his back, and found he couldn't get up.

"What's going on?"

"I believe the name is Suiton: Mizuame Nabara (Water Style: Syrup Trap). Easy to avoid, just have to channel your chakra so you stay on top of it rather than sink into it. Just like water-walking or tree-climbing. You know how to do that, right?"

Naruto's face twisted in rage again.

"Hell no I don't! What are you doing, breaking out ninjutsu on a genin?"

The Nagato clone sighed, and pulled out a kunai. "Well, can't have a weakling like you be a ninja. Let's see if you can at least handle pain."

The real Nagato continued watching from the side. _'Hm, Naruto-kun has spirit but doesn't seem to know many jutsu. Will have to work on that. Got to watch the personalities on those clones though, this one seems a bit sadistic…'_

"No!"

The Nagato clone turned and used his kunai to block a kunai that had shot out from the boulders. He looked up as a shadow started growing over him. A figure had appeared in the sun, and was growing fast. Nagato side-stepped as Hinata struck the ground with her palm where the clone had been standing.

"I-I won't let you hurt Naruto-kun!"

Hinata stood in a stance with her weight on her back foot, with one hand held back by her waist and another placed in front of her, both with the palms facing Nagato. Her pupils were now more visible, and the veins near her temples were bulging out. The real Nagato's eyebrow raised at this.

'_That's the Byakugan, and a Jūkken (Gentle Fist) stance. I suppose they still have some subconscious memory of techniques they learned previously. That must've been one complicated genjutsu for things like this to bleed through without tipping them off.'_

The Nagato clone smiled. "Risking yourself to save a friend? I commend your intentions, but tell me, Hinata-chan, do you truly believe you can defeat me?"

Naruto's eyes widened in surprise, and then fear as Nagato spoke. _'He's right. I couldn't even touch him and I won more academy fights than Hinata-chan'_

"Hinata-chan! Get out of here, I'm fine! He's just going to beat on you!"

Hinata gulped down a sense of dread, but placed it aside and leapt at Nagato.

"Ha!"

Hinata began a series of flowing attacks, gracefully and gently launching her palms at the Nagato clone. The Nagato smiled as it dodged every single attack, waiting for Hinata to leave herself open before backhanding her hard, sending her flying through the air and landing with a thud. "That's two down."

The real Nagato shook his head a bit. '_That much force may have been….excessive. Definitely need to be careful of clone personalities.'_

"Hinata-chan! What did you do to her!"

Naruto was almost trembling with rage as he helplessly watched the Nagato clone launch Hinata through the air and saw her hit the ground. She just lay there, unmoving.

"Is this the first time you've seen a friend beaten like this? It's time to grow up Naruto-kun. We're ninja. It's our job to kill and cause pain, so that others cannot do the same to us. Your enemies in the field will do much, much worse than this. Maybe now you understand a bit of the pain it takes to become a shinobi."

The real Nagato's eyes narrowed. '_Yea, this clone likes pain far too much.'_

As Naruto clenched his teeth and glared at the clone, three shuriken slammed into the side of the clone's head. Sasuke landed from where he had jumped out to launch his attack. The clone disappeared in a puff of smoke….leaving a log with three shuriken in it. Sasuke stepped back in surprise.

'_Darn it! I should've known that opening was too obvious! Now he knows where I am!'_

"Well done, Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke turned to see the Nagato clone standing behind him, leaning next to a tree.

"Waiting until the others had worn me down as much as possible before launching a sneak attack. Too bad I knew where you were the whole time. The trap for later was a nice touch."

Sasuke's eyes betrayed his surprise and fear. _'No way! The whole time he knew my entire plan? So this is the strength of a jōnin.'_

Sasuke quickly recovered, and started tossing shuriken at the clone. The clone smiled and started tossing shuriken back, matching and knocking Sasuke's out of the air. Sasuke started increasing his rate of fire, only for the clone to follow suit. As the last few shuriken collided, Sasuke pulled a folded fūma-shuriken from his pouch, unfolded it, and launched it at the clone. The clone grabbed it out of the air, only for a second fūma-shuriken to appear in the first's shadow. The Nagato clone quickly leaped to the left.

'_Heh, got you now.'_

Sasuke quickly performed the boar, horse, and tiger hand signs, then held the tiger sign as he took a deep breath. _'Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu (Fire Style: Grand Fireball)!'_

The Nagato clone performed the same handsigns, and also took a deep breath.

The two shinobi both exhaled at the same time, sending massive balls of fire that collided with each other, leaving both breathing huge waves of fire that continuously smashed into each other. Sasuke grunted, but then pushed as much chakra as he could into the jutsu. He smirked on the inside as his fire began to overcome and engulf the clone's. The real Nagato watched with interest.

'_He also has some clan jutsu from before it seems, and decent chakra reserves to pull off a fire jutsu like that, even if my clone is holding back.'_

The clone formed a cross with his hands, creating a puff of smoke next to him which dissipated to reveal another clone. The second clone clapped his hands together, compressing air and creating a powerful gale.

"Fūton: Reppūshō (Wind Style: Gale Palm)!"

The second clone's gale launched into the first clone's fireball, causing the clone's fireball to explode into an inferno that instantly engulfed Sasuke's jutsu and sent Sasuke flying. As Sasuke hit the ground, an alarm clock began ringing. The real Nagato stood up and dispelled his clone.

"That's enough. I think I have sufficient information to make my assessment."

Nagato stood in front of the three battered, bruised, and in one case burned genin resting themselves on top of some rocks. He let out a sigh and then opened his mouth to speak.

"Well, during this fight I was able to analyze your fighting ability and team dynamic and have decided that Team Fire…"

Naruto stared at him with a hopeful grin.

"…fails!"

Naruto fell over and flipped at this. Hinata just looked down, defeated. Sasuke's expression remained unchanged from his original face.

"W-Wha..? Why did we fail Nagato-sensei?"

"Well first of all, not one of you could land even a single hit on my clone, even when given the element of surprise. Second of all, you missed the point of the test."

"What point? I thought the fight was the point."

Nagato shook his head.

"The point was to see if you could work as a team."

Hintata spoke up.

"B-but Nagato-sensei, y-you said only t-two of us would pass."

Nagato nodded.

"I did so to divide you. I wanted to see if you could put aside your own goals and work together. In the shinobi world your friends and comrades are all you have to rely on. You have to work together and respect each other, be willing to put your own interests aside and place yourself in danger for the sake of another. If you can't, your team, your mission, and your village will fall apart. You three couldn't do this. First of all, Naruto."

Naruto looked at Nagato attentively.

"You rushed in immediately without thinking or planning. You put yourself in a one on one fight without even thinking to find a teammate or two to help. In the end, all you did was get yourself beaten and captured."

Naruto deadpanned as he realized how terrible that had gone.

"Second, Hinata, your attempts to help Naruto were commendable. However, he had already gotten himself captured at that point. Rushing in yourself didn't help him, in fact it only ended with you defeated as well. You should have found Sasuke, and formulated a counter attack plan if you really wanted to help Naruto."

Hinata nodded slowly and then looked down sadly.

"And finally, Sasuke. Assuming working with others would only slow you down, you waited and watched while your teammates were beaten one by one, hoping they would weaken the opponent enough for you to take him out. However, you ended up risking your teammates on a gamble which failed when your opponent was strong enough to beat you anyways. You shouldn't have dismissed your teammates so quickly, working together you may have gotten a hit on my clone that working individually you never could."

Nagato turned to walk away. "However, I'm not without mercy. I will let you try one more time, and see if you can work together. You have an hour to prepare. Be aware, though, this time you will not face a clone, but the real me, and I will not hold back. Oh yea."

Nagato passed Hinata and Sasuke bentos. "Eat up, you'll need the strength. Don't give any to Naruto since he just rushed at the start. He needs to learn discretion and patience. And if any of you feed him, you instantly fail. Right now my words carry the authority of a god."

Naruto just grinned and laughed. "Haha no problem! I don't need lunch! I'm tough enough to go all day!" Just then the air was broken by the horrible sounds of hunger emanating from Naruto's stomach.

Nagato smiled slightly. "Indeed. Well you have one hour. Good luck." With that, Nagato vanished in a puff of smoke. Hinata and Sasuke ate in silence while Naruto tried to ignore the throbbing hunger for about five minutes before Hinata inched closer to Naruto.

"Um, N-Naruto-kun w-would you like some f-food?"

Hinata put her bento in front of Naruto. Naruto stared at her in surprise for a moment, causing her to blush.

"What? Why Hinata-chan? Aren't you going to get in trouble for it?"

Hinata blushed more. '_I-is he concerned about me?'_

"Um, I-I checked. Nagato-sensei i-isn't here right n-now. And, um, I-I'm worried about y-you…p-passing out d-during the test."

Hinata nearly fainted on 'you' but stammered out an excuse in time. Luckily for her, Sasuke nodded.

"She's right. We all need to be at full strength for this or else you'll just slow us down, loser."

Naruto glared once at Sasuke out of principle and then turned and grinned at Hinata as he accepted the food.

"All right! Thanks, you're the best Hinata-chan! I'm so hungry!"

"What's going on here?"

The three genin whipped around to see nothing, and then looked up to see Nagato-sensei floating in the air above them arms extended.

"So you mean to defy the authority of a god? So be it. Now you all…"

The three genin cringed in anticipation of the potentially village-destroying jutsu Nagato was probably going to release on them.

"Pass."

The genin blinked, not yet fully comprehending.

"We…pass?"

Nagato smiled cheerfully with his eyes closed.

"Yep! You guys proved you wouldn't leave a teammate down no matter the risk, and that's what we need in our shinobi. Now come along, let's go get some real lunch."

Naruto's look of confusion turned into massive grin.

"All right! Team Fire is the best! Let's go, dattebayo!"

The other three couldn't help but chuckle.

-Training Ground C-Later that day-

Naruto whistled as he strolled out to the training field as the sun started reaching the tips of some of the mountains in Kumogakure. Nagato-sensei had asked each of them to go to a different training field; Naruto wasn't sure why but he was sure Nagato-sensei had a great plan going. Naruto came to the place where Nagato had tested them, and saw the red-haired jōnin sitting on a rock, reading his book.

"Hey Nagato-sensei, you said you wanted to see me?"

"That I did, Naruto-kun." Nagato closed the book and stood up. "So tell me, Naruto-kun, what jutsu do you know?"

Naruto grinned at the chance to show off his skills.

"I know tons of jutsu dattebayo! I know the Henge no jutsu! And Kawarimi! And bunshin no jutsu, although I'm not always great at that one." Naruto grinned sheepishly while rubbing the back of his head, then went back to counting. "And I know…uhhh….ummmm" Naruto tried his best to remember any other jutsu he had learned in the academy.

Nagato nodded. _'As I expected.'_ "Is that all, Naruto-kun?"

Naruto grinned nervously. "O-of course not! I just, um, forgot my jutsu book today. Yea that's right."

Nagato shook his head. "It's all right Naruto, we don't really expect genin to know any more than that right out of the academy unless they're from a clan. And that's why we're here. How would you like to learn a new jutsu?"

Naruto's face brightened upon hearing 'new jutsu.' "Yes dattebayo! Please teach me a new jutsu, Nagato-sensei!"

Nagato chuckled and formed a certain handsign. "Well, all right, but only because you asked so nicely. Now watch closely, this is a jutsu that fits your massive chakra reserves quite well. In fact, I think you'll be able to do things with this jutsu no one else can."

-Training Field B-

"So Hinata-chan, what jutsu do you know?" The Nagato clone questioned the shy, young girl, though he already had an idea of what her answer would be.

"Uh-um." Hinata fidgeted with her fingers as she talked. "I k-know the jutsu from the a-academy. I a-also have t-this eye jutsu." Hinata formed a ram sign, and suddenly the veins around her temples bulged out while her pupils grew more visible. "I-I can see e-everything around me. I can also s-see the c-chakra flowing through p-people."

"I see, so you have a dōjutsu, a strong one too if you can see the chakra circulatory system. I have one as well, though mine can't see the chakra circulatory system like yours." Nagato pointed to his eyes with the concentric circles. "Tell me, have you ever considered using your chakra to influence people's chakra circulatory system?"

Hinata shook her head. Nagato nodded in acknowledgement. _'I see, so she subconsciously remembers the form but not its intended purpose.'_

"By doing so, you could develop a very powerful form of taijutsu. The chakra circulatory system surrounds the organs, by sending your chakra into it you can directly attack internal organs. Internal organs can never be trained to be stronger, so by doing this, you can defeat the toughest warrior with the lightest touch. Also, I can see you have amazing chakra control. With your ability to see into the body and to see the chakra circulatory system, you have a natural aptitude for genjutsu and medic ninjutsu."

Hinata looked up at Nagato. She had never considered her chakra control, or anything about herself really. She always just assumed everyone else could do it better, since they seemed to pull off jutsu easily while she was taking her time learning it. Now here her jōnin sensei was telling her she could see things he couldn't, and had great chakra control.

"R-really? D-do you r-really think I c-could do that?"

Nagato smiled and nodded. "Of course, if you'd like we can start training one of those areas now."

Hinata smiled and nodded her agreement.

-Training Field A-

"So Sasuke-kun, I know you already know fireball jutsu and I assume you have the academy basics down, do you have any other jutsu?"

Sasuke shook his head. Nagato nodded his acknowledgement. '_I see, no Sharingan. It must be an activated ability. I'll have to see if there's any information about that.'_

"Well you already know one elemental jutsu, which means you're already more advanced than most genin including your two teammates. I believe we can teach you a few more ninjutsu in addition to the basics I'll train you in with your team. Here."

Nagato handed Sasuke a square piece of paper.

"Channel your chakra through it."

Sasuke did as requested. The paper wrinkled, then ignited and turned to ash.

"Interesting, while you have an affinity for fire it is not your primary element. Your primary element is lightning. So, Sasuke-kun, how would you like to learn your first lightning-element jutsu?"

Sasuke grinned slightly as he moved to start his training.

-The Raikage's Office-The next day-

"THAT's our first mission?"

Naruto's eyes were massive orbs of rage as he shook his fist in shock. Nagato leaned over to reprimand his genin.

"Naruto-kun, I know you're disappointed but you're talking to the Raikage. Besides, I thought you might enjoy a rest, since we found you unconscious in the training field this morning."

_CRASH!_

Naruto was about to respond when he saw the Raikage had, yet again, smashed his desk.

"You punk! Do you want to go back to the academy! These are very crucial missions that secure income and reputation for our village! How dare you complain? Do you want to taste my Iron Claw?"

Nagato smiled nervously with a sweatdrop. "Oh no no no Raikage-sama, Naruto's not fully awake and not really thinking straight yet. He's happy to accept the mission. Come along now team."

Nagato quickly hurried his team out of the room as the Raikage breathed out a small cloud to calm himself down.

"Darn it, Darui! Get me a new desk!"

-A random office in Kumogakure-

"Man this sucks, so many papers. Hey Nagato-sensei, why can't I just use my new jutsu and finish these all?"

Nagato looked up from his book at the poor genin sorting through mountains of paperwork.

"Because Naruto-kun, D-rank missions are designed to build camaraderie and trust between teammates. You can't build that without time and effort after all."

"Then why aren't you helping us?"

Nagato's face was hidden behind the book but they could tell from the one of his eyes they could see that he was smiling.

"To establish a healthy degree of separation and respect between master and student. For our team to operate correctly clear boundaries of authority must be established. Now hop to it, I think Ichiro-san has some more papers for you."

Team Fire deadpanned and glared at their sensei. Nagato chuckled at part of his book and turned the page as Ichiro-san dropped another stack of papers on the desks the team was working at. _'Ah, all in the day of a life of a shinobi.'_

-Outside Naruto's apartment-That evening-

Naruto shuffled to his room, mentally exhausted after sorting through an ungodly amount of papers. '_How on earth does anyone even use that many papers? I'm so glad I'm a shinobi and not a civilian, dattebayo.'_ Naruto pulled out his key and was trying to unlock his door as he noticed a women around twelve years his senior walk around the corner.

"Oh, hey Yugi-onē-san, what are you doing here?"

Yugito marched up to Naruto and grabbed him by the ear.

"Ow! Ow! Ow! That hurts! I didn't even do anything today!"

Yugito continued marching, pulling him out of the apartment complex.

"Come along now, Naruto-kun. You aren't going home until you can read and write every last kanji for me."

The color drained from Naruto's face. It was going to be a long night.


	4. Chapter 3: Didn't even spare the ramen

**Author's Note:** Hello world and all who inhabit it. Sorry for taking so dang long with this chapter. First I was procrastinating cause couldn't come up with a good idea (arguable whether I ever did). Then I sat down to write it and was like oh wait I was procrastinating on my homework too! You know, that stuff that supposedly you need to graduate or something. Bleh. So that happened for a few days plus some hanging out with anime club peeps and then BAM. SKYRIM. Which I haven't even played that much cuz got to try SWTOR too :D. Though not allowed to tell you anything about it. Did that, then remembered oh snap paper due monday, take home due tuesday, and midterm on tuesday. And here we are. Not even sure I did that well on that midterm...should've played more Skyrim. And now I'm sick too. But you don't care about any of that and to be fair I wouldn't either. So anyways here you go, I apologize for the wait and possibly lower quality. I promise I have better ideas for the future. Once I'm done playing Skyrim that is.

Oh yea responding to reviews! All...six of them. Readers, I am disappoint. Anyways.

Joao brasileiro mentioned that it may have been a bit much to take all three kids that I did. A fair point, when I threw in Hinata I wasn't even sure I believed it lol. But my roommate and I thought of this as a troll idea that just happened to mold into a semi-not troll idea. Besides, Kishimoto doesn't bind himself to logic! If he can do it so can I! Also mentioned that Itachi and Shisui wouldn't betray the village. Which is why I used them, otherwise Hiashi would've intervened. Taking liberties with them I'll admit, don't really have a good explanation besides Shisui being disgusted at Naruto's treatment.

Cobra0000 mentioned that the three kids should've acted differently in Kumo. For some small differences yes but I think given the circumstance majority of their personality should be left in tact. Shisui would have an easier time just convincing them they lived in Kumo rather than completely reseting their brains, which might also set them back to newborn level. Shisui probably wouldn't want to mess with any more than he had to. Also in Kumo, they'd be seen as some orphans watched over by shinobi. At best ignored, at worst possible suspicion. Much less if any maliciousness but still loneliness, with only a few people in their lives like the other jinchuriki and the Raikage. As for personalities, Naruto developed a personality identical to his mom's without her influence, so safe to say genetics pretty big for Naruto. Main difference is he wants to protect people because now he starts with people close to him and the entire village doesn't hate him. Sasuke is well, Sasuke. Could you imagine a happy, outgoing Sasuke? Shudder. For Hinata, if anything she might get worse. Brand new place, doesn't know anyone. Not as much emotional abuse but much more loneliness at the start so I'd say balances out mostly comes out a little positive for having a few friends to start with. Majority of her interaction with Sasuke and Naruto since their set up in the same building and given the other two's respective social behavior I think we all know what happens.

silentdragon2k8 mentioned I took major liberties with kotoamatsukami and what it can do. Once again, fair point, I'll give you that. Perhaps I should change it to kotoamatsukami wasn't what they used to erase the villages mind, maybe they set up some barrier like the early warning one and needed shisui to design it so that it would go unnoticed by the majority of people. Maybe. I don't know, working on that. Also mentioned Shisui shouldn't haven't been able to use it again, only like 7 years later. That's a bit easier. Can claim something like only used one eye, the other was still available. Maybe. But since when does the sharingan work logically?

SlyPrincess2012 and miner249er: Thanks for the words of encouragement!

Thanks for your feedback. I shall work on reducing the number of logical fallacies/liberties I have to use to make the fic work out. Enjoy!

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><p><strong>Disclaimer:<strong> I don't own Naruto or said other anime/manga I may have borrowed some moves from. Was gonna think of something witty to put here but eh I got nothing. I'm sick. And want to play Skyrim.

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><p><strong>Chapter 3: And they didn't even spare the Ramen<strong>

-Office of the Raikage, Kumogakure-One Month after the Formation of Team Fire-

The three genin of Team Fire, each carrying a new sword and wearing a Kumo forehead protector, and their jōnin sensei pushed aside a shoji door. They entered the Raikage's office and knelt before the massive, dark-skinned man curling a weight with his left arm and holding a mission report with his right.

"Very good, Team Fire, yet another successful mission. Darui will hand you your payment on the way out. Now, for your next mission assignment!"

Hinata and Sasuke deadpanned at the thought of yet another office assignment or worse. Naruto, face filled with rage and fist shaking, exploded with what they all thought.

"Not another lame D-Rank mission! We're way better than this, dattebayo! Give us a good mission, Raikage! One where we actually get to leave the village and do something!"

Nagato ran to cover his hot-headed genin's mouth, but he was too late. Team Fire saw only a dark flash as the massive hand of the Raikage grabbed Naruto's face.

"AHHHHH IT HURTS!"

Naruto cried out in pain as the Raikage squeezed his head, eyes white with anger and tick mark bulging.

"TASTE MY IRON CLAW! HOW DARE YOU QUESTION THE AUTHORITY OF THE RAIKAGE? AND INSULT YOUR SACRED DUTY AS A SHINOBI OF KUMOGAKURE!"

The Raikage released Naruto and turned around, taking a deep breath as the blond haired genin twitched on the floor.

"N-Naruto-kun…"

Hinata watched Naruto in fear and sympathy while Sasuke just grunted and smirked. Nagato could only sweat-drop.

'_Huh, Naruto's never going to learn, is he?'_

The Raikage took another deep breath.

"You think you're too good for D-ranks do you? So be it. I'll give Team Fire your first C-rank mission! And don't come crying when you fail and are beaten!"

Nagato, Hinata, and Sasuke's jaw dropped as Naruto jumped into the air, fist raised high.

"All right! Thank you Raikage! You're the best!"

Team Fire could only chuckle at Naruto's enthusiasm-and apparent recovery from the Iron Claw of the Raikage.

"Team Fire! Your mission: Head to the Land of Frost! You must deliver this scroll to the businessman Tetsuya! Now move out!"

-Abandoned Yamato Works, Konohagakure-Two days later-

Three ninja gathered in the center of a walkway. They wore tan cloaks, and had on porcelain animal masks associated with ANBU. They knelt as a frail old man with shaggy hair, bandages around his right eye, and an x-shaped scar on his chin limped over to them with the aid of his cane. The man kept his eye closed as he calmly spoke to the ninja.

"A squad of genin matching the descriptions of the Vanished has been spotted crossing the Kaminari no Kuni (Land of Lightning)-Shimo no Kuni (Land of Frost) border. You are to confirm, capture if possible, and kill if not. If intel is correct, they are led by Arashi no Nagato, one of Kumo's Next Sannin and possibly the first of a new kekkei genkai. If possible, detain or kill him as well and bring his body. But do not underestimate him. Do you understand?

All three ninja nodded.

"Dismissed."

-Road between Kaminari no Kuni and Shimo no Kuni-

Nagato strolled calmly, smiling as his genin looked around in wonder. For obvious security reasons, none of them had ever been allowed out of the village before, let alone the country. Naruto was like a caffeinated hamster, and only that calm due to his shinobi emotional control training. Though, Nagato had to admit, the view was quite stunning. They were scaling down the last of the mountain ranges of Kaminari no Kuni, the snow-covered landscape of Shimo no Kuni stretching out before them. Had Nagato not been on the lookout as they were nearing the border of their territory, he may have taken a moment just to take it all in.

"Wow! You can see for miles from here!"

Sasuke chuckled at him.

"Well yea, loser, it's not like the whole continent is made of mountains."

Naruto spun around and glared at his rival/friend.

"Duh! I knew that, jerk! You think I didn't pay attention during our basic geography lessons or something dattebayo!"

To be fair, Naruto had not paid attention during said geography lessons. Why listen to boring Dodai-sensei drone on when he could just ask Hinata-chan about the stuff he didn't know later? Though Dodai-sensei didn't faint when asked for a study help session, a memory that brought heat to Hinata's cheeks. Nagato chuckled at his team's antics.

"Well then since you paid attention, Naruto-kun, why don't you tell us where we are?"

Naruto's face brightened at the chance to show Nagato-sensei his knowledge and more importantly show up that jerk, Sasuke!

"Well obviously as we took the land route, we must be getting close to Shimo no Kuni. It's the only nation that shares a land border with Kaminari no Kuni, which gives us naturally strong defenses against everyone but Kirigakure."

-Ninja Academy, Konoha-

A certain pink-haired student dropped her pencil right in the middle of a test, jaw open. Iruka walked over to see what was wrong.

"What's the matter, Sakura-chan? You're trembling."

The pink-haired girl barely looked up at Iruka.

"I don't know Iruka-sensei. I feel like something very, very wrong just happened."

-Back with Team Fire-

Sasuke couldn't help but let his jaw drop. Nagato, with years of experience and a dōjutsu that lets him do the impossible, somehow managed to contain his surprise and just nodded and smiled.

"Good work, Naruto-kun. You're absolutely right. I'm glad to know you paid attention in the academy."

Naruto grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head at the praise while Hinata just smiled proudly. Suddenly the surprise vanished from Nagato's mind as he realized Naruto probably had some private tutoring.

"Hey Nagato-sensei look at that tree! It's still green. Though looks like it has some missing leaves."

Nagato's eyes narrowed. There, sitting on the side of the road, was a tall oak tree, with bright green leaves. '_Hmm a temperate-deciduous species in a climate where only conifers grow. With green leaves in a winter climate. And that's ignoring the gasp when Naruto said 'Missing Leaves.' Well, definitely not a ninja ambush! Because no ninja's that blatantly obvious right, that's kind of against what the word 'ninja' means.'_

Nagato calmly took a few steps forward when a rustling noise came from the bushes. A barrage of kunai, complete with exploding tags, shot and embedded themselves into the surprised Nagato. Team Fire turned around and watched in horror as their sensei disappeared in a massive explosion. Two figures jumped out of the trees and rushed towards the genin.

"Heh, one down. Too easy. It seems Kumo ninja aren't all they're cracked up to be, right sis?"

"Shut up and focus, let's take down that blonde one."

The two ninja vanished and appeared behind Naruto, who appeared to be frozen in fear, kunai in their hands. Hinata gasped and looked away as the two buried their weapons in Naruto's head and back, only to hear a 'poof.' The ninja fell forward forward, landing in the snow as two Naruto's appeared behind the ninja, cleavers in hand and dripping with blood from the massive slashes on the backs of the two shinobi. Two more ninja launched out of the trees, killing intent in their eyes as they charged at Naruto.

_CLANG!_

The clash of metal upon metal sounded out as the shinobis' kunai were deflected by Sasuke's chokutō. Sasuke then pushed back, forcing the two shinobi back. Sasuke stabbed his sword into the ground, his hands flying through seals. The two ninja had leapt back and prepared to charge back in, only to be engulfed in flames.

"Katon: Gōkakyū no jutsu (Fire Style: Grand Fireball)!"

"GAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

For good measure, Sasuke threw his own kunai with an exploding tag into the inferno, blasting away the two ninja. Sasuke turned to Naruto, a smirk on his face.

"Good job loser. I was expecting you to freeze up or something."

Naruto smirked back.

"No way! What kind of a ninja would I be, freezing because it's my first time fighting? We Kumo shinobi are way better than that. Besides, no way you would've hit them with that without my epic skills."

Sasuke's reply was interrupted by a shriek and dark laughter. The two genin turned to see a larger male ninja, one arm around Hinata with a kunai pressed to her neck. An evil grin appeared on the man's face.

"Kukuku, not so tough now, are you brats? Luckily for you I'm supposed to take you alive if I can. Now if you don't mind, please drop those weapon pouches and fancy swords."

Naruto and Sasuke clenched their teeth. How could they have let this happen? They reached for their pouches when they heard the horrible sound of metal stabbing into flesh. They watched a spurt of blood fly in horror.

"I'm sorry Hinata. I thought he might go for a hostage, but I had to confirm something. Now I know."

Nagato pulled his kunai out of the dead shinobi's neck and let him drop to the ground. He wiped his kunai off with a handkerchief carried for that exact purpose, then picked up Hinata and scanned her for injuries. Satisfied she was physically unharmed; he carried her over and placed her next to her teammates, Naruto and Sasuke quickly moving to support her. Sasuke's eyes narrowed as he analyzed the battle and Nagato's words.

"Nagato-sensei, you said you wanted to know something. Did it have to do with them wanting us alive?"

Nagato slowly nodded. There was a reason this boy was one of the top of his class after all.

"I wanted to see if they were after us, or after the scroll. It seems the former. While I thought it might have just been one of the normal shinobi skirmishes that occur from time to time, they were aiming for us specifically. This mission just got a lot more complicated." '_Especially since these were ninja originally from Konoha.'_

The ninja currently called Hyō watched as the four shinobi of Team Fire walked away. He shook his head at the missing-nin's failure; while they were always meant to die he hadn't expected them to be destroyed that badly. He barely had a chance to gather any intel at all. However, he and the squad he was assigned to had worked with less than this before. They were Root after all, those that grew in the dark to support the leaves bathing in the sun. They could not fail. They do not fail. Hyō moved from his position silently, unseen and unheard as he slipped away.

-Team Fire Campsite-That Evening-

Naruto happily sat down on a log in front of the campfire, steaming cup of ramen in hand. He dug in; stuffing noodles in his mouth as quickly as he could while Sasuke slowly ate his omusubi. Naruto looked up from his ravenous feasting to see Hinata, curled up and holding her knees, her eyes quivering. Naruto gulped down his latest bite, wondering whether or not to try and talk to her. He couldn't stand seeing someone like that.

"Hey Hinata-chan, you look kind of down. Is something the matter?"

Hinata looked up at Naruto, eyes almost watering. She swallowed the incoming tears as she mustered up the courage to respond.

"I…I-I was useless. Y-you and S-Sasuke-kun were so brave and s-strong. I just got kidnapped, and h-had to be saved by N-Nagato-sensei."

Naruto opened his mouth, mind racing for comforting words, when he noticed Sasuke walk over.

"Well then, get stronger."

Hinata and Naruto glanced at Sasuke in surprise.

"You'll always be weak if you let people save you and then mope around afterwards. If you don't want this to happen again, then do something about it, train harder, and get stronger."

Naruto glared at Sasuke. Why would he say that to his comrade? Hinata-chan had been kidnapped and threatened; this jerk's attitude wasn't helping.

"Gr, don't listen to that jerk, Hinata-chan. You're plenty strong and work hard to improve! Everyone gets nervous. Don't worry; I'm sure you'll do fine next time."

Naruto smiled, but then noticed Hinata's eyes were no longer quivering. She shook her head.

"N-no Naruto-kun, Sasuke-kun is right. I was w-weak today, and I need to get stronger. I w-won't let it happen again."

Hinata then smiled at Naruto, her face turning red.

"B-but t-thank you for trying to c-cheer me up, N-Naruto-kun."

Naruto grinned sheepishly.

"Haha, no problem, Hinata-chan."

The three genin jumped back as a lightning bolt flashed and Nagato appeared before them and let out a chuckle. Ah, the Kumo version of the Shushin never got old.

"There we go, barriers in place. We shouldn't have any more surprises. Now, I hope you've all eaten and rested for a bit. While I was hoping we'd have more time before experiencing true ninja combat, it seems fate has decided otherwise. Therefore, you all need to become stronger. It's time for a bit of training."

Nagato couldn't help but smile as Naruto's face lit up at the word 'training.' Who couldn't love a student so enthusiastic to work?

"All right! What are you going to teach us, Nagato-sensei? I bet it's an awesome jutsu!"

Ramen and ninjutsu, Naruto's two greatest addictions. Nagato considered telling Naruto he would receive an all-you-can-eat meal on his sensei from his favorite ramen stand after completing the training, but decided to save that for a really hard technique. That, and the fact there weren't many ramen stands close by. Nagato pulled out two slips of paper and handed them to Naruto and Hinata.

"Indeed it is, Naruto-kun. Now, please channel some chakra into that paper."

Naruto scratched his head, staring at the paper confused.

"Why Nagato-sensei? How does this help us train?"

Nagato turned to Sasuke and nodded. Sasuke stood up, walked to the road where there were no trees, and started performing hand-signs. Once again, Sasuke exhaled the ball of fire that characterized the familiar jutsu.

"It's time we started training you two in elemental jutsu. Sasuke-kun knew one before somehow, but now we're bringing everyone up to speed. That particular paper is made from trees that are raised on chakra, and will react to the elemental nature in your chakra."

Naruto's eyes lit up, dreams of spitting fireballs and shooting lighting from his fingertips swirling in his head. He pulled up the paper and quickly channeled as much chakra into it as he could. He was quickly vindicated as the paper broke into two halves, a clean cut appearing down the middle. Nagato nodded.

"It seems you have wind-type chakra, Naruto-kun. It's a surprisingly rare chakra type, even in Kaze no Kuni (Land of Wind). Wind type forms the sharpest blades that slice through anything and powerful gales to blow away and fly around attacks. It is strong at short to mid-range, though I've heard of long range techniques as well. Now Naruto-kun, tell me about elemental counters."

Naruto nodded seriously and saluted.

"Right Nagato-sensei! There are five elements, lightning, wind, fire, water, and earth, each of which has strengths and weaknesses against one other element. Lightning beats earth, earth beats water, water beats fire, fire beats wind, and wind beats lightning, right?"

In Konoha, Sakura shuddered once again.

Nagato nodded.

"Correct again, Naruto-kun. I have to say your teacher must have done a very good job for you to remember all this."

Nagato turned to the blushing Hinata and nodded. She looked down at the paper and hesitantly channeled her chakra to it. The paper turned damp, and then started dripping water. Nagato nodded once more.

"You are a water type. Water is the most flexible of the elements, able to change state as well as shape. A fine element to have. All right then, on to the next step."

Nagato tossed them each a box. Each box had in it a stack of paper slips.

"These are just normal papers now. You will use them to get used to generating elemental chakra. Naruto, I want you to try and cut these papers using only your chakra. Hinata, try to make the papers damp. Do you remember the special training technique we talked about Naruto?"

Naruto stopped, and searched his memory for a moment.

-Flashback-Kumogakure Training Field-Three Weeks Ago-

_Naruto sat on a boulder, staring up intently at Nagato. Since Nagato had asked him to come here separately, he was sure his sensei was going to teach him a brand new jutsu! One that that jerk Sasuke couldn't possibly learn! Naruto of course did not know about the Nagato clones teaching said jerk and their gentler companion in separate training fields. Nagato wasn't one to play favorites after all. What kind of jōnin-sensei ran off teaching only one of his genin?_

"_All right Naruto-kun, today we're going to work on your chakra control."_

_Naruto frowned._

"_But Nagato-sensei I can make chakra just fine! Why not teach me some epic ninjutsu?"_

_Nagato resisted the urge to smack him over the head, or stab him with a chakra conducting blade and keep the hyperactive boy still. If only he had such a blade._

"_Well you see, Naruto-kun, you have far more chakra than your two companions. Far, far more. Not as much as me, but with time and a ton of hard work, you might just approach my level."_

_Nagato thought about it for a moment._

"_Actually no, you could never be that cool."_

_Naruto flipped over and looked down, depressed._

"_But anyways, with your massive chakra reserves, you can become a terrifying ninjutsu expert, able to use more powerful jutsu more often."_

_Naruto's face immediately brightened at the praise and thought of epic ninjutsu. He thought for a second, then his face turned from joy to confusion._

"_But then why aren't you teaching me jutsu, sensei?"_

_Nagato took a breath and continued._

"_Because, Naruto, you have the worst chakra control of the bunch. Even if I tried to teach you a ninjutsu, it would take an eternity for you to even use it at a basic level, trying to use it at a combat-effective level would most likely cause it to overload and fizzle out. You need better control over your chakra before you can learn powerful and potentially dangerous jutsu."_

_Naruto nodded._

"_I guess that makes sense. Octo-san and Yugi-o__nē-san tried to tell me that, but Octo-san said it in a rap and I kind of tuned out Yugi-__o__nē-san's lecture."_

_Nagato chuckled and shook his head. Classic Naruto._

"_Unfortunately, there's no way to learn expert chakra control than to just practice it over and over again. Luckily for you, Naruto-kun, you have a training advantage no one else has."_

_With that, Nagato backhanded Naruto and dispelled his clone as Naruto's burst into smoke._

_A little while away, the real Nagato and Naruto sat on boulders, Naruto waiting for Nagato to respond. What were their clones doing? Suddenly Nagato looked at Naruto._

"_All right, Naruto-kun. Can you summarize what you've learned?"_

_Naruto saluted and launched into a summary of the lecture. Nagato resisted a smirk as he counted down in his head. 3...2…1…_

_Naruto's eyes widened in realization._

"_Wait, how do I know all this?"_

_Nagato chuckled._

"_There's a reason I taught you Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Jutsu). Your kage bunshin are real copies of you, so any knowledge they learn or memories they make are transferred to you upon their dispelling. Because of this you can train at a much faster rate, as you can do ten, a hundred, or even a thousand times the training in the same amount of time."_

_Naruto laughed and grinned at the idea._

"_All right! So that's how shinobi become so awesome."_

_Nagato shook his head._

"_Nope, in fact Naruto-kun, you're the only one who can do this. Most jōnin only have enough chakra for a few clones and only for a short while. You are one of a few people with the chakra to create mass shadow clones for any reasonable amount of time. Of course, this training isn't without risks."_

_Nagato snapped his fingers, and Nagato clones all over simultaneously destroyed the Naruto clones they had been training in tree climbing and other chakra-focusing exercises. Naruto's eyes widened and then he fell over unconscious from the mental strain. Nagato chuckled as he picked up his apprentice and started walking home._

-Present-

Naruto smiled and formed his signature jutsu's cross-shaped hand-sign.

"You bet I do, Nagato-sensei!"

Naruto formed about fifty clones, each with a piece of paper in hand. The clone all spread out and held the paper between their hands, looks of intense concentration in their face as they began the training. Hinata and even Sasuke's eyes widened at the sheer number of clones Naruto had created.

'_Not even jōnin should have that much chakra, maybe you aren't such a loser after all, Naruto. I'll have to train twice as hard now just to stay ahead!'_

-Several Miles from Team Fire's Campsite-

Two ninja in tan cloaks and porcelain animal masks sat in a circle, silently awaiting their comrade's return. They were not kept much longer as the ninja currently called Hyō appeared, kneeling before the ninja wearing a wolf-like mask. The wolf-mask ninja stood calmly, arms crossed.

"Report."

Hyō bowed his head as he delivered his findings.

"Three genin and one jōnin from Kumogakure. They each match the description of the Vanished. The girl possesses the white eyes of the Byakugan, so there is no doubt these are in fact the Vanished. The two males can fight at chūnin level, the Uzumaki capable of Kage Bunshin while the Uchiha performed a Katon jutsu. The Hyūga froze during the battle, so I conjecture this was their first combat experience."

The wolf ninja nodded.

"And what of the jōnin?"

"He remained calm and used a substitution to escape the initial attack. He then observed the battle before intervening to save the Hyūga. He used no jutsu, however his eyes appeared a strange shade of purplish-gray with several concentric circles in them. Possibly a sign of an advanced dōjutsu."

The wolf ninja remained silent for a moment, as if thinking. He looked up at his two comrades.

"Very well, continue to observe for the moment. If an opportunity presents itself, we shall attack. If not, gather as much information as you can and we shall proceed with the original plan. Dismissed."

All three ninja disappeared and shot out into the night.

-Trading Town-Three Days Later-

After a few slow days of traveling and training, Team Fire reached the target town. While progress had been slow to allow for adequate training time, Nagato was pleased with the mission so far. Naruto, with his Kage Bunshin, had made amazing progress towards his elemental transformation training. Hinata, with her far superior chakra control and Byakugan to watch her chakra, was also progressing faster than expected. Luckily for them, Nagato was able to use all elements and thus could give them pointers.

-Flashback-On the Road-

"_Hey Nagato-sensei!"_

_Nagato looked up from his reading to see one of Naruto's Kage Bunshin standing in front of him._

"_This wind chakra stuff's pretty hard; do you have any more advice?"_

_Nagato signed, and put away his book._

"_I'm sorry Naruto-kun, it's not like I can just use any type of elemental jutsu I want."_

_Nagato then slammed his hands together, sending out a massive gale that knocked the Naruto clone on the ground. Nagato smiled._

"_Or maybe I can. Try this Naruto-kun. When forming wind chakra you're trying to make a blade. So imagine splitting your chakra into two pieces, and then grinding them together. Do it such that the two fields sharpen each other, like how you sharpen your sword."_

_The Naruto clone nodded and then dispelled. All the other Naruto clones started encouraging each other and talking about the new revelations that had just come to them. Nagato smiled, and the returned to his book._

* * *

><p><em>Farther away, Nagato caught the falling Hinata. The poor girl had been going at it all day, and while not abnormally low her chakra reserves were far below her powerhouse teammates.<em>

"_Are you all right, Hinata-chan? Perhaps you should take a break."_

_Hinata was breathing heavily and sweating, but she resolutely shook her head._

"_I-It's ok Nagato-sensei. I t-think I can go on. I a-almost got it, so I can't stop now. N-not when N-Naruto-kun and Sasuke-kun are working so hard."_

_Nagato smiled and held out his hands._

"_Let me see your hands."_

_As Hinata placed her hands in Nagato's, Nagato's began to glow blue. Hinata felt energy flowing through her body, restoring it to life. Her tired and sore muscles suddenly relaxed and felt ready to move, and she stood up in surprise, unable to stop moving._

"_There, I've passed some of my chakra to you. I admire your dedication, but Naruto and Sasuke have abnormally high amounts of chakra and it would do no good for you to pass out now trying to match that. Building up your stamina will take time, so for now we'll cheat a bit so you can keep up."_

-Present-

At this rate, Nagato could begin teaching them some basic jutsu by the time they returned home. Combined with Sasuke quickly learning the jutsu assigned to him, they were starting to become quite formidable genin. Nagato realized that the Chūnin exams were coming up soon. Perhaps with a month or two of dedicated training, his team would be ready for a challenge.

Nagato's thoughts were interrupted by the horrible sounds of hunger emanating from his charges. They HAD just spent the past couple days either travelling or training. They could probably use some sustenance, lest they fall over.

"Listen up Team! I don't think any of you are ready for a diplomatic encounter of such importance as this one. Therefore, I'm splitting our team duties. I shall deliver the scroll to our client. You all are to scout around and watch for trouble. If said scouting takes you by a source of sustenance, take advantage of it immediately. Stay together and stay out of trouble. Stay in town, I don't think there should be any trouble while there are civilians around. Just in case, take these."

Nagato passed each of the genin a small, black rod.

"These are chakra receptors, tuned to my chakra. If you get into trouble, channel your chakra into it. I'll sense the disturbance, and come to find you. So long as you do this and stay together, you should be fine. Now any questions?"

Three grateful and ravenous faces all vehemently shook their heads.

"All right, then move out!"

Nagato chuckled. He had never seen genin move so fast as his team had towards the nearest restaurant. Nagato turned and headed out towards the designated meeting spot.

Hyō could not believe their luck. The jōnin was separating his team, leaving all three of the Vanished alone while he left in the opposite direction. This was the perfect opportunity to complete their objective and run, without truly having to face one of the 'New Sannin.' Hyō slipped off into an alley, then vanished in a puff of smoke.

* * *

><p>Naruto looked over the choices. He couldn't believe it, a ramen stand with types of ramen he hadn't seen before! He couldn't wait to try them!<p>

The stand owner chuckled at the young boy with wonder in his eyes. Clearly this was a true ramen connoisseur.

"Can't make up your mind? I'd recommend the Kakuni Paitan. Several servings of our special pork in our unique broth."

Naruto quickly wiped off the drool pouring out of his mouth. The ramen smelled more delicious than any he had tried in Kumogakure, and Kumo had not a single stand untouched by the blonde boy.

"Yes please! Keep them coming!"

Naruto dug into to the heavenly, soupy goodness. He was heard Sasuke say he was heading to buy some omusubi, and was only vaguely aware of Hinata ordering a bowl herself next to him. This was the most amazing thing he had ever had, and nothing short of a shinobi attack would tear him from it.

Sadly, Murphy had not taken the day off today.

Civilians started screaming as several explosions rocked the ground. No civilian or building had been damaged, but the concussive force had knocked Naruto off his seat. He pushed himself up, only to see his precious bowl of ramen, lying on the ground, delicious goodness pouring out onto the streets. His mind stopped, and he barely felt Hinata rush over to help him up.

"N-Naruto-kun! Are you ok?"

Naruto felt a fire burn in his stomach like he never had before. His eye began twitching as he grit his teeth and clenched his hands into fists. No amount of pain would suffice for this transgression.

"I'LL KILL THEM! WHO DARES SEPARATE ME FROM MY RAMEN?"

Naruto's eyes narrowed as he found his answer. An individual dressed in a tan cloak and wearing a porcelain animal mask appeared in the middle of the now empty streets. His stance and sudden appearance obviously marked him as a shinobi. He calmly walked up the street and turned to face Naruto and Hinata.

"Naruto-kun and Hinata-chan. I am prepared to fight but would like to avoid that if at all possible. Yield and come with me, and I shall return you home."

Naruto glared at the intruder with all the killing intent he could muster.

"Like hell we will! Who do you think you are? Attacking us in the middle of a town! I'll teach you to mess with us Kumo ninja!"

Hinata activated her dōjutsu and gasped. This man was nothing like the group who attacked them earlier. While his chakra wasn't on par with Nagato-sensei's or even Naruto's, he was well above the average shinobi. Hinata guessed he was at least low-jōnin level. His chakra system was very well developed, indicating high, long term usage. He definitely had far more experience than they did, and was confident enough to attack them openly with Nagato-sensei still in town. There was no way they could win against someone like this. She barely survived the encounter beforehand! How could they expect to even escape against someone this strong? Her dōjutsu deactivated and she started trembling at the thought, and half-consciously fell a step back, unable to move, unable to fight, unable to run.

"Don't worry Hinata."

Hinata blinked as she snapped out of her trance. Had Naruto spoken to her? How could he sound so confident? He had to have sensed this man's strength.

"It'll be all right. I'll take care of this loser. You run and find Nagato-sensei."

Suddenly all doubt rushed from Hinata's mind. Naruto-kun was going to face this enemy, the same as before. She couldn't just run and wait for help like she did last time. No, she was going to help defeat this enemy, even if she had to risk her life. Hinata grabbed Nagato's black chakra rod and sent a pulse of chakra through it, then made some hand signs and reactivated her dōjutsu. Once again she could see their opponent's strength but no longer trembled at the thought of facing him. Naruto-kun and Sasuke-kun had done it once. Perhaps, they could do it once more. Besides, this man didn't know Sasuke-kun was nearby. She knew Sasuke was just waiting for an opportunity to strike.

* * *

><p>Unfortunately, Sasuke would not be entering Naruto and Hinata's fight any time soon. Sasuke was busy muttering curses under his breath as he barely dodged another slash of his opponent's tantō, only to have a foot plant itself on his solar plexus and send him flying back as he tried to counter.<p>

'_Darn it! This guy is fast! His taijutsu works too well with that tantō, I can't get near him!'_

"Who are you and why are you attacking me? No nation is currently at war with Kumogakure, you have no reason to do this."

Sasuke's attacker stood calmly, tantō held in front of him across his chest with his free hand and feet ready to strike.

"I'm sorry Sasuke-kun, but I must ask you to come with me. Prolonging this any longer will only result in pain."

Sasuke roared, drew his chokutō, and slashed at the man's neck. However, Sasuke's blade seemed to pass through the man as he vanished, only to reappear with his fist in Sasuke's stomach.

"Gah!"

Sasuke flew back and slid along the ground, watching as the man leapt into the air tantō held high. He rolled to the side and stood up as the tantō impaled the ground where his body lay a second earlier, then jumped back to evade the man's follow up kick, managing to throw a kunai to prevent the man from pressing the attack. Sasuke cursed again and reached into his pocket, releasing a burst of chakra into Nagato's rod. He hated to admit it, but there was no way he could defeat this opponent on his own.

"Not bad, Sasuke-kun. You have the potential to become a kenjutsu master. Unfortunately, your long blade is far too slow to break my tantō's defense, and your taijutsu can't compare to mine. Surrender now, and spare yourself further pain. If you keep this up I may permanently injure or kill you."

Sasuke threw several shuriken as he started making hand-signs.

"Just try it!"

Sasuke took a deep breath, and exhaled his signature ball of flame.

"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!"

Sasuke smirked as his flames died down, only for his eyes to widen in shock and fear as the man reappeared to his side. Sasuke turned to guard a strike, but the man had vanished, reappearing behind him. Sasuke gasped as the man continuously vanished and reappeared at different points surrounding him. Sasuke took a slash at the man as he appeared in front of him, only for his sword to pass through empty space and his arm to receive a cut for his trouble. Sasuke took a step back, grabbing his arm before trying to form the hand signs for another jutsu, however he was interrupted as a fist slammed into his face. Sasuke dropped to the ground and spit out a couple drops of blood.

'_At this rate I really am going to die! He keeps appearing to move slowly when he's actually moving fast! Unless I can predict how he's going to change his speed, I'm going to die!'_

"Impressive, Sasuke-kun. Someone your age should be impressed to have jutsu of that caliber. However, even the strongest blade passes harmlessly through water. You have no attack that can pierce through my Ryūsui no Ugoki (Flowing-water movement). A simple physical technique passed down since the age before shinobi were dominant. But ninja today forget the power of subtlety; with this technique I shall show you its strength."

Sasuke slashed once more in fear as the man appeared before him, only to have the man appear right below his blade, his tantō held backhanded.

"It's over."

Sasuke barely saw what happened as the man spun, three slashes appearing on Sasuke's chest in an instant, sending him flying back as blood shot from the wounds. The man stopped his spinning to observe his unmoving victim.

"Kaiten Kenbu (Spiral Sword Dance)."

-Outside a building on the other side of town-

Nagato exited the building, allowing himself a small smile. The exchange had gone off without a hitch. Given his Team's past luck with missions, he was half expecting a sneak attack betrayal. He allowed himself to relax only after leaving the building. _'I better go check on my little students. I wonder how much trouble they've gotten themselves into.'_

Nagato suddenly stopped, face paling. There was no mistaking it. He felt one, and then two disturbances as his students pulsed chakra into the chakra rods. Nagato channeled his chakra to his feet and prepared to leap towards their direction with all possibly speed when the ground exploded next to him. Nagato leapt to the side, landing on his feet and sliding across the ground as he turned to face his attacker. He saw a shinobi, dressed in tan with a porcelain wolf mask. Nagato frowned.

"And what business would an ANBU have attacking a jōnin of Kumogakure on a mission? I wasn't aware any Kages were so eager for war."

Nagato pulled out a kunai and took a look at the man. He had decent chakra reserves, but they seemed subtle and subdued. Nagato narrowed his eyes. _'A genjutsu user maybe? Probably here to distract me while they retrieve my squad.' _Nagato let out a sigh. '_I knew this was a bad idea.'_

The man formed a ram sign.

"Arashi no Nagato. I've heard of you. Rumored to be the strongest of the "New Sannin." It is an honor to finally meet you, if only briefly. Worry not, I doubt I could kill you or even stop you. A few minutes are all this will take, and then we will be long gone."

Nagato glared at the man and started forming his own hand signs.

"Is that so? In that case, allow me to instruct you on the true meaning of pain, as I do to all who threaten my precious comrades!"

* * *

><p>"GAAAAHHH!"<p>

"Naruto-kun!"

Naruto clenched his teeth as he was sent flying through the air, puffs of smoke appearing all around the area as he and his shadow clones were flung back. Their ninja opponent took advantage of Hinata's moment of concern, and charged straight at her. Hinata, having focused on Naruto for a split second, let out a gasp as the ninja slammed his fist into her face, sending her flying back to land on the ground by Naruto.

"Darn it! Even with Kage Bunshin I can't touch this guy!."

The shinobi walked towards them and pulled out a kunai.

"I'll say it one last time. Surrender and come peacefully. I will not hold back forever."

Naruto jumped up and charged at the guy, creating another five kage bunshin which proceeded to run and jump at their attacker.

"Like hell we will!"

The ninja ducked as the first shadow clone flew overhead, throwing his kunai at a second who tried sliding underneath the first and forming signs with his freed hands.

"Doton: Chikyū Furu Ken (Earth Style: Earth Shaking Palm)!"

The ninja slammed his palm into the ground, sending cloud of dust and pieces of rubble flying into the air. Naruto's kage bunshin stopped and raised their arms to shield their arms, only for the shinobi to slip through the debris dispelling the kage bunshin with his tantō and kicking Naruto in the face.

"N-Naruto-kun!"

Naruto flew back and hit the ground hard. He strained to look up, watching helplessly as the shinobi leapt at him, kunai in hand. Naruto closed his eyes and waited for the strike that never came. He anxiously opened one eye, only to see the man jumping back from a palm strike by Hinata.

"I might be w-weak. But I w-won't let you hurt Naruto-kun!"

Hinata set into her stance, leaning slightly back holding her kodachi in front of her, her other hand kept at her side palm open, veins visible in her temples. Naruto watched in horror as she charged forward and the man ducked under her kodachi, moved to the left of her palm, and stabbed his tantō into Hinata's side.

"HINATA!"

Naruto saw drops of blood hit the ground from where the man stabbed Hinata. Hinata gasped as the man pulled out his tantō and backhanded her, sending her sprawling on the ground, curled up with her back facing Naruto. Naruto clenched his teeth, eyes watering as Hinata lay there and stopped moving.

"I'LL KILL YOU!"

Naruto jumped and roared as he threw himself at the shinobi. The man calmly performed some hand signs and stuck out his palms at Naruto. The earth rose around Naruto and slammed itself shut, forming a dome around him.

"Doton Kekkai: Dorō Dōmu (Earth Style Barrier: Earth Dome Prison). This should hold you for a while. You might as well relax, with your level of physical attacks you'd need above join level chakra to break out of this jutsu."

Naruto grabbed his cleaver and swung with all his might at a wall of the earth prison. The cleaver left a massive gash, only for the trench to fill itself up before Naruto's eyes.

"I told you, it's no use. This jutsu takes your chakra and gives it to me, allowing me to use your strength to repair the walls. There's no way for you to escape. Give up now."

Naruto clenched his teeth, muttering curses.

* * *

><p>The man wearing a leopard mask walked over to Sasuke's unmoving body. Suddenly, he swung his tantō in front of his face and leapt back quickly, barely blocking a kunai thrown at his face.<p>

"Impressive, few survive my Kaiten Kenbu."

Sasuke cursed inside. He was counting on his sneak attack doing some damage. Now he lost his one chance at surviving his fight. Sasuke grimaced in pain, using his chokutō as a crutch as he pushed himself back on to his feet. Three slashes appeared in his sheath, causing the top to break into two pieces which fell to the ground.

"I see. You pulled your sheath in front of you to take the brunt of my attack. Very clever, it's regrettable. You would've made a fine shinobi. The man vanished, begin his flowing movement again.

Sasuke grimaced some more as he brought his chokutō in front of him. '_Darn, I can't attack him while he's moving like this, so I'll have to wait for him to attack. But he moves faster than me, so for me to have a chance I'll have to predict his attack! Concentrate, focus, look for a change in his stance!"_

Sasuke's eyes widened and he pulled his sword back.

"Hiya!"

This was it. If he miscalculated, the shinobi would use that technique again and his last-ditch defense would only work once. He had to succeed here, or he would die. Sasuke swung his sword with all his might.

* * *

><p>"Suiton: Mizurappa (Water Style: Raging Waves)!"<p>

Water gushed out of Nagato's mouth and slammed into his opponent, only to pass through harmlessly as his opponent shimmered and then vanished. '_Darn, another illusion. He's quite good at replacing himself with them.'_

Nagato leapt to the slide, avoiding a kunai, only to bring his arms up to shield himself as an exploding tag launched him into the air once again.

"I didn't think it would be so easy to fight you, Arashi no Nagato. Those strange eyes must not be a dōjutsu if I can avoid you this easily. Perhaps we will take you back as well, rumor has it you have some incredible kekkei genkai."

Nagato quickly performed some handsigns and formed a tunnel with his fist in front of his mouth.

"Katon: Gōkakyū no jutsu!"

Nagato launched a fireball in the direction of the voice, but immediately saw no chakra but his own in the flames. '_He must be using a genjutsu to change the location of his voice.'_

"You've sure been using an impressive array of jutsu, you can't possibly keep this up for much longer."

Nagato tossed some kunai with exploding tags so that they floated in the air around him, then slapped his palms together.

"Or maybe I can. Fūton: Reppūshō (Wind Style: Gale Palm)."

A massive gust of wind shot out in all directions from Nagato as his palms slapped together, launching out the kunai and creating a ring of explosions around Nagato. However, the smoke obscured Nagato's vision, allowing the ninja to rush into the blind spot behind him. Nagato looked from side to side but not behind, seemingly unaware of the shinobi silently speeding towards him from behind, tantō aimed at his neck. '_I've got you now. At our current distance if you haven't seen this coming yet there's no way for you to react in time.'_

"Doton: Doryūheki (Earth Style: Mud Wall)."

The shinobi's tantō imbedded itself into the wall that Nagato had seemingly put up behind him, all without turning around once. The shinobi let go of his weapon and leapt back.

'_Impossible! There was no way he could've seen me, I've been in his blind spot the whole time!'_

Four pillars of rock suddenly exploded out of the ground with the shinobi in the middle of them. He had only a moment to glance around as lightning shot through the pillars and into the shinobi, his body convulsing from the electrocution.

"Raiton: Shinchū Shibari (Lighting Style: Four Pillar Trap)."

The shinobi weakly looked up with the last of his strength, only to see a clone of Nagato sitting on the roof, observing the fight from the very beginning. The clone, earth wall, and earth pillars dispelled, Nagato finally turned around and walked over to the ninja.

"I said I'd show you true pain, but I'm short on time. Punishing you shall be the duty of a god, for I have no more to spare on you."

Nagato threw a kunai into the man's skull, killing him instantly. Nagato immediately launched himself into the air, flying towards the other side of town. '_I hope I'm not too late.'_ Nagato didn't notice a civilian draped in a cloak walk up to the fallen shinobi and check his vital signs.

"Dead, as we expected. Quite impressive. Not only did he use a jutsu of every elemental nature, his reactions were as if he could see everything his clone could. He truly could be a new Sannin."

The civilian picked up the dead body and walked away into a dark alley.

* * *

><p>Hyō would have smiled under his mask if he had emotions. The mission went far better than he ever would have expected. Separating the jōnin from his team had been too easy, then the genin went and separated themselves as well. Together they may have had a chance, two kekkei genkai users and a jinchūriki are nothing to sneeze at after all. But now, he was going to defeat one of the legendary Uchihas without even using ninja techniques! Hyō flipped his tantō and held it backhand. He would tone the power this time, the strength difference between him and his target was enough to warrant a capture. Hyō appeared behind the Uchiha, and started to spin.<p>

_CLANG!_

Hyō's eyes widened in surprise as he used his tantō to block an attack from the Uchiha. There was no way a mere genin had seen through the technique! Hyō would've felt fear if he could have as he looked into the Uchiha's eyes and saw two red eyes, one with two tomoe surrounding the pupil, the other with one. _'Sharingan? Crap! Not good!'_

"Heh got you now. You're technique is great when you're defending but easy to see through when you move to attack. Now it's my turn."

Sasuke closed his eyes and formed a rat hand sign, holding his sword with the bottom hand.

"Raiton: Kangekiha (Lightning Style: Emotion Wave)!"

Electricity shot from Sasuke's hands and sped up his sword and down Hyō's tantō. Hyō tried to jump back but the lightning already reached his body, sending him into convulsions. _'Darn, I can't move while the electricity is coursing through my body._ Hyō glanced over to see Sasuke charge at him, sword held back for another strike. Hyō tried desperately to move his tantō to block, but his body refused to respond to his command. His last sight was that of the Sharingan, burning with rage.

And then there was darkness.

Sasuke slumped to the ground as his attacker's headless body fell over. That had been the toughest fight he had been in, and he was lucky to have survived. Sasuke wondered curiously, why had the man stopped? Towards the end he had slowed down his movements, such that Sasuke could not only see, but memorize each one. Sasuke was unaware of the red Sharingan in his eyes and he turned to see Nagato on a roof, making a clone which jumped down to help him as he moved on.

"Sasuke are you ok?"

Sasuke smirked.

"You're late, Nagato-sensei."

And the he let himself go, embracing darkness.

* * *

><p>Naruto sat down, sweat dripping from exhaustion. His opponent was right, there was no way out. He was going to die here, nothing he could do about it. Naruto accepted his fate, about to drop his head on the ground and rest, when a vision came to him. He saw Hinata, lying on the ground in a pool of blood.<p>

'_Hinata…'_

Of Sasuke, defeating him in a spar.

'_Sasuke…'_

Of Bee and Yugito, training him on how to use chakra and control his massive reserves.

'_Octo-san, Yugi-onē-san…'_

Of Nagato, teaching him a new jutsu.

'_Nagato-sensei'_

And of all the people of Cloud who had talked with and laughed with and supported and appreciated him.

"That's right, everyone is counting on me. I can't die now. I won't die now!"

Naruto stood up, formed a ram sign and shouted as he gathered as much chakra as he could. Then, something strange happened. Right when he thought he expended the last of his chakra, new chakra exploded out of him, flooding the room with powerful, red energy. He didn't even notice his whiskers growing more pronounced, his fingernails sharpening into claws, and his teeth sharpening into fangs.

The ninja outside would have smiled if he had emotions. The Hyūga girl fell easily, now he had the boy trapped. Wasn't this boy supposed to be a jinchūriki? He never thought it would be this easy.

Then he frowned. Something was wrong. He was getting far more chakra now. So much chakra, in fact, he was having trouble keeping the wall from imploding from the sheer volume of it. '_And this chakra…it feels almost…evil.'_

The man had no time to react as a fist exploded out of the wall and smashed his face.

Naruto stood, breathing heavily as the dome crumbled around him. Red chakra continued to pour out of him and spiral around him. He looked up to see the enemy ninja stand back up, mask cracking.

"Darn, that was a powerful strike. If the wall hadn't been there, I might've died. I guess I should've known this wouldn't be that easy."

Naruto clenched his teeth as he once again saw Hinata on the ground, unmoved from before.

"**You killed one of my friends! I'll kill you for that!"**

The man frowned. _'His appearance and voice have changed. And then there's that chakra. I don't know what's happening, but at least I have chakra to spare now.'_

The man performed some hand signs and the ground beneath Naruto transformed into mud, throwing him off balance. The man did some more handsigns and the mud formed into a dragon head, which launched several balls of concentrated mud at Naruto at point blank range.

"Doton: Doryūtaiga (Earth Style: Earth Flow River), Doton: Doryūdan (Earth Style: Earth Dragon Bullet)!"

The man raised his arms to protect his face as an explosion of chakra blasted away the mud. He looked up to see Naruto right in front of him. '_He's fast!'_

Naruto slammed into his face, sending him flying. The man struggled to get to his feet, only for Naruto to appear behind him, cleaver in hand.

"**No one hurts my friends and gets away with it! DIE!"**

Naruto slashed with his cleaver, slicing through the man's back. The blow cut through the man's spine and several organs, killing him instantly.

Nagato landed on the battlefield and ran to Hinata, making a clone which ran over to Naruto as the red chakra vanished and Naruto reverted back to normal.

"Naruto! Are you ok?"

Naruto's eyes were only half open as he fell into Nagato's arms.

"It's over…Nagato-sensei."

-The Local Hospital-

Nagato cursed as he looked over the bodies of his three students, lying peacefully in hospital beds and covered in bandages. '_If only I had been faster.'_

Naruto had a lot of bruises but no major injuries. Mainly just exhaustion from using so much chakra, including his bijū's. Already his bijū's chakra was helping him heal, with rest he should recover in a day or two. Sasuke's injuries were impressive, but fortunately quite shallow; he would also heal in a day or two as well.

Hinata was another story.

She had the gravest wound of the three of them, and had it for a while before it was tended. While the wound itself wasn't mortal, the attacker had stabbed into a relatively unimportant part of the body, blood loss and her other wounds combined put her in a dangerous position. Thankfully, the townspeople, grateful to the ninja who defeated the unprovoked attacks, had done all they could. Hinata stabilized, but it would be a while before she could fight again.

Nagato cursed again. He'd really rather let her rest, but given an attack by ANBU on their very first trip out of the country he had to get them back to Kumo as soon as he possibly could. The doctor said they could leave tomorrow, as long as Hinata either walked a civilian pace or was carried.

"Nagato-sensei?"

Nagato left his thoughts and turned to face Naruto. The kid never ceased to amaze. Even as a jinchūriki, he really shouldn't have woken before tomorrow.

"Relax Naruto-kun, you used quite a bit of chakra. Nothing that rest can't handle, but don't expect to move much until tomorrow."

Naruto looked down depressed.

"What's wrong Naruto-kun?"

Naruto closed his eyes, tears gathering.

"I'm sorry Nagato-sensei. I wasn't strong enough. If I had been…Hinata-chan wouldn't have…"

Nagato closed his eyes and smiled.

"Ah, Naruto-kun. Always concerned for someone else. Before you start crying, you might want to look to your right."

Naruto looked to see Hinata lying in her bed, unconscious and covered in bandages but very much alive. Tears of joy now started streaming from his eyes. Nagato simply smiled and waited. Naruto was someone who truly cared for his comrades, a rare gift that was hard to teach but incredibly valuable. Nagato stood up and walked towards the door.

"You did great Naruto-kun. Your teammates are fine, the mission was a success. Now, rest today. We have a long trip starting tomorrow."

-Yamato Works, Konoha-Several Days Later-

A frail old man with shaggy hair, bandages around his right eye, and an x-shaped scar on his chin limped over across an abandoned walkway. There in front of him was another figure, hidden in a tan cloak and kneeling on the ground.

"Report."

"Terai, Tera, and Hyō are all dead sir. Upon entering a town, Arashi no Nagato separated from the Vanished. Terai engaged Arashi no Nagato while Tera and Hyō moved to apprehend. Terai was killed by Arashi no Nagato, Tera was killed when Uzumaki Naruto unleashed the Kyūbi's chakra, and Hyō was killed when Uchiha Sasuke revealed his Sharingan. Uchiha Sasuke and Hyūga Hinata were injured but not killed. Arashi no Nagato arrived before I could intercept and they are currently heading back to Kumogakure."

The old man nodded. "As I expected, what of Arashi no Nagato? Any intel on his skills?"

The cloaked figure nodded.

"Arashi no Nagato was capable of using jutsu of all five elemental natures. In addition, he had strange, purple-grey eyes with concentric circles around the pupils. He made a clone that watched his battle with Terai from above. It seemed he could see everything his clone did without dispelling it or visibly communicating with it. I'd suspect he has some sort of dōjutsu kekkei genkai."

"The Rinnegan."

The figure looked up curiously. The old man continued.

"The Rinnegan, the rumored third dōjutsu capable of bringing forth any and all ninjutsu and ancestor of both the Sharingan and the Byakugan. If it existed, it would be the most powerful dōjutsu in existence, and grant its user the ability to learn any technique they wished. It is rumored the Sage of Six Paths used the Rinnegan to create ninjutsu. It's not conclusive, but your intel suggests Arashi no Nagato possesses a Rinnegan. Dismissed."

The figure vanished. The old man looked up to the sky.

"Impressive, Raikage-sama. To think you have not only three jinchūriki, but users of all three dōjutsu now. Things just got a lot more complicated, it will take everything I have to ensure Konoha's safety."


	5. Chapter 4: Preparation

****Author's note: Hey readers, how was Thanksgiving? Mine was cool, though didn't go home since I live 5000 miles away. But that's why Skyrim and family friends are for. Sorry I took a bit longer on this one...if you read my authors note you would know I had a mid-term around last chapter. Which I failed. BADLY. Kinda bummed me out for a bit. But then I just withdrew from the class and we're all good. I warn you, this chapter will probably have many more typos than normal. My roommate who normally proofs my chapters does not live 5000 miles away and thus he did go home for break. But that's ok, this is just that boring, training chapter that's necessary but not amazingly exciting. Just explaining what abilities they're going to get and...'character development' or something like that. Unless you like that kine stuff. Then congrats, totally made this just for you.

Review shoutouts! Because I have few enough I can still do this for every person who reviews. Don't you want to see your name here? Your moment of fame? Oh yea, that and NEXT PERSON TO READ WITHOUT REVIEWING GETS FUS-RO-DAH-ed. Once I learn it that is. I love that shout.

The Lament Beast wrote an awesome review that majorly boosted my ego. Thanks for your kind words of encouragement! I hope the fic lives up to your expectations. Oh crap, at first I was going to just troll around but it seems I've accidentally made something semi-serious hahaha. I'll attempt to make it good!

Tobi Fan 321 went above and beyond and left a review for every chapter! Thanks for reading and for your encouragement!

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><p>Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. But my new plan is to learn FUS-RO-DAH, then challenge Kishimoto for the rights and Shout him down. Now if any of you could point me in the direction of the nearest dragon, still need to absorb some dragon souls for this to work.<p>

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><p><strong>Chapter 4: Preparation<strong>

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><p>-Jōnin Meeting, Konohagakure-<p>

All the jōnin and a couple chūnin gathered in a room with stone floors, wooden walls, and large drapes hanging across the ceiling. A red carpet ran up through the center of the room, leading up one stair to a desk with the symbol of Konoha on it. Behind the desk sat an elderly man, wearing the uniform of the Hokage. The old man faced the jōnin, his hands held together in front of his face on the desk.

"Now, first we'll hear from those who are watching over the new genin. Kakashi, Kurenai, and Asuma. Well? Are there any genin you'd like to enter in this Chūnin Selection Exam? I don't have to tell you but, after a genin has properly completed at least eight missions, they make take the exam if nominated by their sensei. Of course, completing more than that is the norm. Now starting with Kakashi…"

Kakashi took a step forward, making a one-handed ram sign.

"I, Hatake Kakashi, nominate Team Seven to take the exam."

The entire room gasped and started whispering as Kurenai and Asuma followed suit. One chūnin in the back worked up the courage to voice his opinion.

"Kakashi-sama! With all due respect, how can you enter your team? They can't possibly be ready yet, who knows what will happen if…"

The chūnin was interrupted by the blast of killing intent that froze everyone in the room, leaving it in dead silence.

"I'll be the judge of if my team is ready or not. Besides, that's the same train of thought we used on a kid named Uzumaki Naruto."

Everyone in the room had the decency to look down, ashamed at memories of Naruto's treatment.

"I see my new team as our chance to make up to Yondaime for our mistakes, and I won't let your paranoia and prejudices crush his legacy once again."

The chūnin fell over, sweat pouring down his face, as Kakashi released the killing intent and eye-smiled.

"Besides, the Exam's in Konoha and we'll all be watching. What's the worst that could happen?"

-Office of the Raikage, Kumogakure-

Team Fire, an assortment of bruises and bandages, stood before the massive, weight-lifting Raikage.

"Excellent work Team Fire! Not only did you complete the mission, you defeated a sizable group of shinobi and earned the gratitude of the local population. Darui! Get their payment! C! Take Team Fire to the hospital and check their wounds!"

C and Darui hurried the wounded genin out of the room. Nagato remained where he stood.

"Nagato, debrief."

Nagato nodded.

"Shortly after crossing the Kaminari no Kuni and Shimo no Kuni border, we were attacked by a group of missing Konoha ninja. None of them were stronger than low chūnin and we defeated them quite easily. However, they mentioned orders to take my genin alive while they tried to kill me immediately. I took the opportunity to train my genin along the way, thus when we reached the town I sent them to rest while I delivered the scroll. Upon separating, we were attacked by ninja wearing ANBU masks, each high chūnin to low jōnin level. My opponent mentioned his purpose was to delay not defeat me; I can only assume their intention was to capture or kill my genin. Sasuke single-handed defeated one opponent and activated his Sharingan, Naruto and Hinata defeated their opponent when Naruto unleashed his bijū chakra, though Hinata was seriously injured. I believe the missing nin earlier were working for the ANBU who used the attack to judge our abilities. Given their interest in my genin and disinterest in me they knew my team's identity from the very beginning, meaning they must have been from Konoha."

The Raikage watched Nagato as he continued lifting his weight.

"This is unfortunate, though not entirely unexpected. I'll keep your team in the country for a while. Dismissed."

The Raikage raised an eyebrow as Nagato remained where he was.

"You have something more to say, Nagato?"

Nagato nodded and knelt.

"Raikage-sama, I request that Team Fire be entered in the next Chūnin Exams."

The Raikage let out a 'hm' and rubbed his chin.

"Do you truly believe your team ready for promotion already?"

Nagato stood up and shook his head.

"In combat prowess perhaps, overall no; however, promotion is not the point. Our opponents weren't chosen to capture us, they were meant to test us. I sensed a fourth ANBU watching, but my priority was to find medical attention for my team, so I couldn't engage. My team survived, but just barely and only because our opponents had abilities specifically countered by Sharingan and bijū chakra. The next group would be at least jōnin level, and tailored to our weaknesses. My team needs more combat experience that they won't be able to get through normal means, and the Chūnin Exams provide the best opportunity for that without unnecessarily endangering them."

The Raikage nodded.

"A smart idea, however have you forgotten Nagato? The Chūnin Exams are in Konoha this year. If it was Konoha nin who attacked you, is sending your team into their midst truly wise?"

Nagato remained unfazed, his expression unchanged.

"Yes, I've thought of that. However, Konoha already knew about my team without them once leaving the village. In addition, as they'll be participants in the Exam Konoha itself is hosting, Konoha can't move against my team without a massive loss in reputation not to mention diplomatic nightmare or even war with us. The only thing they could do safely is an ANBU operation during the survival portion of the exam."

Nagato performed the hand signs for Kuchiyose no Jutsu (Summoning Jutsu), and put his palm to the ground. As the smoke clear, a small squirrel with the Rinnegan in its eyes appeared.

"I've prepared a countermeasure. I can see everything he can, and will watch the second exam. In addition, he has the seal for a reverse Kuchiyose in his fur. If Konoha moves against my team, I'll intervene and withdraw them. However, given Sandaime Hokage's peaceful tendencies, I doubt he'll cause much trouble. I'm sure he only ordered a move like this due to the anonymity of my team and on pressure by other elements in Konoha. Showing them off like this will cement them as ninja of Kumogakure; any further action of them will thus become a move against Kumogakure and, thanks to the Uchiha Massacre, Konoha is in no position to initiate a war with us, especially not when we have three jinchūriki to their zero. It's risky and provocative, but given the circumstances I don't think Konoha will press the issue."

The Raikage smiled and removed his hand from his chin.

"Impressive analysis as always, Nagato. I was actually planning to enter them anyways for those very reasons. Take the coming months to train them, and make sure they'll survive the exam. You'll have any resource at your disposal for the task; in addition you are given authority to recruit any shinobi not also preparing a team for the exam or on a mission to aid you. Dismissed!"

Nagato knelt once more, and shushin-ed out of the room.

-Training Field C-A few days later-

Nagato strolled up to his team, which was resting on some boulders as usual. The genin of Team Fire still wore some bandages but had recovered from the most serious injuries. Nagato walked up to them and paused a moment before speaking.

"Good morning team, glad to see you're all feeling better. Now down to business. You all performed well on the latest mission and you took down several chūnin and even two ANBU-level opponents. As such, I've decided to enter you all in the next Chūnin Exams."

Naruto jumped into the air, fist held up high.

"Yipeeee! We're going to be chūnin, dattebayo! Thanks Nagato-sensei!"

Nagato grabbed the boy out of the air and put him back down on the rock.

"Hold it! I never said anything about you actually _passing_ the exam. Many, in fact most, ninja fail on their first time. Many if not most fail it several times before passing. Some never pass. Don't think it will be a walk in the park like the genin exam."

"Which you failed by the way, loser."

Naruto's face almost fell when Sasuke added his comment, but he decided to glare at Sasuke instead before looking back to Nagato with a hopeful face.

"But you believe we can do it, right Nagato-sensei?"

"Perhaps. You have the raw combat ability and power, but it takes more than a good fighter to make a chūnin. I don't know if you have all the necessary qualities to make chūnin."

Team Fire fell over at this, and recovered with confused looks.

"N-Nagato-sensei, then w-why are you entering us?"

Nagato nodded. It was a fair question after all.

"Simple, the point is not to earn a promotion. Remember, those chūnin who attacked you mentioned orders to capture you three alive. I imagine the ANBU level opponents were the ones who gave them the order. It's obvious that someone wants to capture you three. As such, you are constantly in danger every time we leave the village."

Naruto gulped while Hinata looked down and pressed her fingers together. Sasuke continued to watch Nagato with a serious look on his face.

"Why would foreign ninja target us specifically? We're only genin."

Nagato turned to Sasuke. To anyone else Sasuke's face wouldn't look any different, but due to Nagato having spent more time with Sasuke, being a high level jōnin, and possessing an advanced dōjutsu, Nagato deciphered a look of curiosity from Sasuke. Sasuke was just honestly curious on why anyone would bother with them. '_Looks like he doesn't suspect anything abnormal yet. Good.'_

"That's easy. Sasuke-kun, both you and Hinata-chan possess powerful dōjutsu, which as you know are kekkei genkai. All villages and certain powerful individuals want kekkei genkai, especially advanced dōjutsu, under their command. Naruto-kun, on the other hand, is a jinchūriki, who faces much the same situation only even worse because there are even less jinchūriki than kekkei genkai. The fact that you're all genin only makes you more enticing, as you're that much easier to kidnap and then control."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"Wait, I have an advanced dōjutsu?"

Nagato blinked in surprise himself. _'I guess he didn't realize it.'_

"Did you notice in the last battle that your opponent seemed to move slower, that you could see and react to his every move in a way you couldn't before?"

Sasuke nodded, remembering that exact experience.

"When I arrived on the scene, your eyes had changed color and design. I imagine you needed those eyes to survive that battle, so your bloodline activated in order to save your life. Many kekkei genkai are known to activate when their user is in extreme danger, allowing their user to escape an otherwise certain death."

Sasuke nodded.

"So I have a kekkei genkai, shouldn't I be from a clan then?"

Nagato nodded, forcing himself not to hesitate. '_I don't like where this is heading.'_

"Possibly, only no known Kumo clans have dōjutsu. Since you were recruited as part of the Arashi program you may have been orphaned, or the last of your clan, as many of the other Arashi recruits were. It's also actually surprisingly common for individuals with strong abilities to leave their clans and disperse into the world, probably because few normal shinobi can stop them. The life of a shinobi is not an easy one, nor one many people desire to remain in indefinitely."

Naruto nodded, trying to make a serious face in a way that alerted everyone to the fact he's completely lost.

"Ohh right, I get it. But Nagato-sensei, what does that have to do with the chūnin exams?"

Nagato turned back to Naruto. Naruto would never know, but Nagato was infinitely grateful to Naruto for the abrupt topic change. _'Thank you Naruto! Sasuke was starting to ask dangerous questions, and I can only think of so many half-true arguments before they start sounding flimsy.'_

However, to maintain appearances, Nagato sweat dropped as his explanation had flown over Naruto's head.

"The point is people are hunting for you, and if you're going to work outside of Kumo you have to be able to handle that. Only, you're brand new genin. Completely green. You can't and aren't supposed to have to handle these kinds of opponents for a long time under normal circumstances. Additional training will give you power and skill, but you also need experience and insight that comes only from true battle. Whoever's chasing you won't give you that chance; the next opponent you fight out on a normal mission will crush you instantly."

Nagato watched as his team gulped and nodded grimly. He didn't particularly enjoy scaring them this, but it was important for them to understand the magnitude of their situation.

"The Chūnin Exam, on the other hand, is an isolated contest that only genin are allowed to enter and that the host country vigorously watches to prevent interference. There, you will face life or death battles against ninja of similar or at least not crushingly higher skill level, ninja you should be able to survive against given your latest performance. This is primarily a chance for you three to test yourselves and gain some combat experience; if you by some miracle happen to pass I'll be pleasantly surprised and infinitely proud to call you my students."

Naruto smirked at Nagato and struck a pose pointing at Nagato.

"You can count on us, Nagato-sensei. Not only that we'll prove you wrong and become chūnin on the first try!"

Nagato chuckled. '_Ah Naruto, ever optimistic. It's refreshing in a way; I sincerely hope you don't lose your bright outlook, though you could still use some serious thought every now and again.'_ Nagato glanced at Hinata, noticing her pressing her fingers even more than before.

"Um, N-Nagato-sensei. D-did you mention we c-can die?"

Nagato smiled at her. _'Hm, poor Hinata didn't have her confidence boosted much by the last mission. She has potential but she needs to believe in herself. At least she's taking the challenge of the exam quite seriously. If only I could somehow transfer her calm thoughtfulness in exchange for some of Naruto's enthusiasm.'_

"Worry not, Hinata-chan. I wouldn't send you into anything I didn't think you could handle. Surviving the exam is much simpler than passing it, otherwise how could so many people fail it multiple times? In addition, the exam is not for three months. We'll do a few D-rank missions but the Raikage has given us permission to train almost exclusively for those months. Here."

Nagato tossed each of them two scrolls. Naruto opened the first scroll. He winced in reflex at the sight of so much kanji, but relaxed when he realized he could read them all. He did so and discovered it was the sign-up form for the Chūnin Exam. _'Heh, thanks Yugi-on__ē__-san. If you hadn't threatened me that night, I might still barely be able to read. Heck, I might have not even known where to sign this!'_

Naruto opened the second scroll to reveal a training schedule.

Nagato gave the students a moment to examine each scroll before continuing.

"Sign the forms and bring them tomorrow, I'll take care of the rest. As for the training, I've personalized each of your schedules to best suit your advantages. Those schedules contain individual fitness, control exercise, and drills I want you to perform on your own so we can focus on more specialized and advanced topics in our time together. In addition to our team work-outs, each of you will work with me individually. While the shadow-clone arrangement has been working out well and I'm sure you can't bear the pain of separating from me, I feel you'd all benefit from specialized help, so I took the liberty of requesting private training based on your abilities. We'll be rotating who's with a specialized trainer and who's with me on a monthly basis, though we'll continue to meet in mornings for group warm-ups and train as a team the last week of each month. Ah, here they come, right on time."

Team Fire turned around to see several ninja approaching. Naruto immediately recognized Bee and Yugito since he was fairly close to the two of them. Walking to the left of them was dark-skinned man with white hair and a relaxed look, and a serious, fair-skinned, blonde man that Naruto recognized as the Raikage's personal guards and assistants. To the left of them was a cheerful-looking fair-skinned man with spikey orange hair.

"Hey Yugi-onē-san! Octo-san!"

Naruto waved at his two friends and mentors. Yugito didn't respond, somewhat embarrassed at Naruto's casual address in front of his sensei and the Raikage's guards. Bee smiled and waved back.

"Yo Little Nine, ready to train? Yugito and I gonna get you in the game!"

Yugito shuddered at being included in one of Bee's rhymes, though it was barely noticeable as everyone else shuddered at having heard one of Bee's rhymes.

"Naruto-kun, I believe you're already acquainted with Bee-sama and Yugito-sama? They'll be working with you on your jinchūriki abilities specifically. Hinata-chan, meet C-sama, one of the Raikage's bodyguards. He's skilled in several abilities requiring a high-level of chakra control, which I believe you have an advantage in."

Hinata bowed gratefully to C.

"T-Thank so much C-sama! It's an h-honor to meet and work with such a p-powerful shinobi."

C nodded in acknowledgement.

"Don't worry; it's the duty of strong shinobi to instruct the younger generation. I'm sure we'll have some productive time together."

"Sasuke-kun, this is Darui-sama, also one of the Raikage's bodyguards. He's skilled in raiton jutsu and will help you train your raiton element."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

"So you're the Raikage's bodyguard, you must be pretty strong."

Darui grabbed the back of his neck with his hand while stretching his neck.

"I guess so. Job's pretty dull though, the boss doesn't really need me to protect him or anything. Sorry if that wasn't your image of a Kage's bodyguard, but at least I have jutsu or two I can show you."

Nagato nodded and turned towards the last individual.

"Of course, Darui and C work directly for the Raikage, so they can't always help you. Therefore, Hinata-chan and Sasuke-kun, you will also train with my teammate and good friend, Yahiko. Yahiko's second only to Bee in kenjutsu, so you'll both be training with him in kenjutsu. Hinata-chan, you will also train with him in suiton jutsu, he's quite skilled at them as well."

Yahiko laughed. "Nagato, you make me sound like some super powerful, S-ranked ninja. We all know you are the strongest of us."

Nagato grinned. "Ah, but you were always our leader, Yahiko. I can't help but embellish your great qualities, Leader-sama."

Yahiko laughed again as he turned to Nagato's students. "Hahaha now you're just making fun of me. So, you two are the ones I'll be working with? Looking forward to it. You kids are really lucky, I owe your sensei more than one and there's no one I'd trust my life with more."

Nagato whispered under his breath so everyone could hear him say something but no one could quite make out what it was. "Except for Konan of course."

Nagato grinned innocently as Yahiko glared at him.

"Well then, now that we've all introduced ourselves, why don't you three spar me? I'm sure your teachers would like to see firsthand what they're dealing with."

-Training Field C-The Next Morning-

Nagato led his team out and passed them breakfast as he said he would at the conclusion of yesterday's training session. He ate along with his students for a minute or two before laying out the day.

"All right, today will be the start of your individual training after we finish our group warm-up. Sasuke-kun, as you only just activated your dōjutsu and wasn't particularly aware of it, you'll stay with me first. Naruto-kun, Yugito-sama will be here shortly to escort you to the Valley of Clouds and Lightning where Bee-sama is already training. Hinata-chan, C has asked that you meet him outside the Raikage's office. Head out once you've finished eating."

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><p>Nagato faced Sasuke, who stood calmly, patiently watching Nagato.<p>

"All right Sasuke-kun, let's begin your dōjutsu training. First, let's confirm which dōjutsu you possess. Do you know how to activate it?"

Sasuke thought about it for a moment.

"I think so."

Sasuke closed his eyes, focused some chakra in them, and then opened his eyes. As his eyelids rose Nagato could see his eyes had turned red, two tomoe surrounding his right pupil and one around his left.

"Just like I remembered; your dōjutsu matches the description of Sharingan."

Sasuke's eyes widened a little.

"You mean the infamous mirror wheel eyes of the legendary Uchiha clan?"

Nagato nodded.

"Indeed, quite a powerful tool. You remember the known abilities of the Sharingan, correct?"

Sasuke thought back to the academy lecture 'On Famous Kekkei Genkai and their Known Abilities.'

"Let's see, Sharingan users were most famous for their ability to memorize and copy any handsigns and jutsu used by their opponents, most famously Hatake Kakashi, Konoha's Copy Ninja. In addition, Sharingan users were both practically immune to genjutsu and incredibly capable in casting it. Sharingan users also seemed to be able to predict enemy movements and see through otherwise confusing motions, making them both incredibly accurate and evasive. With all this combined, Sharingan users were terrifying in one on one combat; the only effective countermeasure was superior numbers." '_So that's what happened in my fight.'_

Nagato nodded. "Correct, however dōjutsu can take a heavy toll on the body. You've seen how Hinata's wears her out after a while, and intel suggests even Hatake Kakashi can't use his Sharingan for very long."

Sasuke nodded as another thought came to him.

"I've already figured out that Hinata's is the Byakugan, it fits the description perfectly. So, Nagato-sensei, what dōjutsu do you have? Yours doesn't fit either Sharingan or Byakugan. Also, I've never seen you without yours. Does yours strain yourself less than Sharingan or Byakugan?"

Nagato smiled slightly, though worried inside. '_He's quite insightful, maybe too insightful. He might just figure out the truth some day.'_

"Mine is the Rinnegan, which if you remember wasn't described because no one alive had ever seen it until I came around."

Sasuke's eyes widened in visible surprise.

"You mean _the_ Rinnegan? The strongest of the Three Great Dōjutsu? The Legendary Eyes of the Rikudō Sennin which bring forth all ninjutsu and gave birth to both Sharingan and Byakugan?"

Nagato smiled and nodded.

"The one and only."

Sasuke's eyes widened further as he realized how truly powerful his sensei must be.

"I would tell you not to tell anyone, but I think you're a smart enough boy to figure that much out yourself. I can use it all the time because of several reasons. One, I've trained and fought and lived with it on for decades now, so I'm used to it. Two, I've been gifted with an abnormally strong life force, and thus have more chakra and more stamina than almost anyone except possibly jinchūriki and Kage. Three, I have a theory that the strain a dōjutsu puts on you is proportional to vision. My Rinnegan, while supposedly strongest in pure power, is actually the weakest of the three in pure vision. It's around a similar level of Sharingan in terms of seeing chakra, but not sharp enough to predict or memorize movements at the same level of Sharingan. On the opposite end, Byakugan has the strongest vision, but Hyūgas have been known to deactivate their Byakugan when tired or low on chakra, or even collapse after using it too long without rest. Sharingan is in between and thus it does strain the user, though not to the extent of the Byakugan, though on the other hand only certain, stronger Uchiha can even use Sharingan so it could be a selection effect. I imagine with ample chakra reserves and training, a Sharingan user could keep their dōjutsu active all day. Which is what we plan to do."

Suddenly Nagato rushed as Sasuke and launched a punch straight at Sasuke's face. Sasuke moved as fast as he could, but even then he only barely dodged because his Sharingan had been active when Nagato launched his attack.

"Here's my plan. I'm going to launch attacks against you that are too fast for you to respond to normally, but just slow enough for you to dodge while you have Sharingan. Then I'm going to have you copy some complex jutsu. When you're about out of chakra, we will resume dodging practice. You'll learn to fight tired and how to deal with the strain of the Sharingan in the worst possible case, so it will become easier to use normally. In addition, while I want you to keep your Sharingan active at all times, I want you to convince my eyes that it's inactive."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed.

"But you already know it's active, and you have the Rinnegan so you can see the chakra in a genjutsu."

Nagato nodded.

"Exactly. No normal sight-based genjutsu will work on me in this case. The only way for you to do this is to utilize the hypnotic portion of the Sharingan. You'll have to beat my Rinnegan and foreknowledge with that half of the Sharingan while dodging or copying with the other. Nearly impossible, but still possible. Think you're strong enough to do it?"

Sasuke smirked.

"Heh, bring it on."

Nagato nodded once more and entered an offensive taijutsu stance.

"Let's begin."

-Yakiniku Restaurant-Three Weeks Later-

Team Fire had trained like they never had before. They would greet each other in the morning, warm-up, and report to their respective teachers. They would then each train until the sun went down, at which point they were so tired they would go straight home and straight to bed. Even Naruto was feeling a bit less energetic than usual. The team only saw each other once in the morning and were barely awake enough to do that. Therefore, Nagato decided to treat his team to dinner before team training week started to give them a chance to catch up.

"First of all, I'd like to say excellent work team. I've heard excellent things about both of your training, Naruto-kun and Hinata-chan, and Sasuke-kun, well you have the best sensei of all so you better have made some progress."

The three genin stifled giggles at their sensei's feigned overconfidence.

"Regardless, you've all worked hard and done well so far, so let's have a good time tonight and some good team-bonding. Itadakimasu!"

Nagato chuckled as he watched his team start devouring everything in sight.

"So Naruto, Hinata, hope you don't mind if I drop the honorifics, why don't you tell us about your training? Of course I've talked with your senseis, but I'd like to hear from you firsthand. Besides, good opportunity to let the rest of your team know what you can do."

Naruto swallowed one last gulp of food before nodding and adjusting his forehead protector.

"All right my training rocked! Wait, if you're not using honorifics do we still have to call you Nagato-sensei?"

Nagato just stared at Naruto.

"Of course."

Naruto growled a little.

"So unfair. Anyways, yea my training rocked, dattebayo! Octo-san and Yugi-onē-san showed me how to access my bijū chakra! I can just access it for an extra boost of chakra, or I can release a lot more and use what Octo-san calls a tailed-beast cloak."

Hinata blushed and pressed her fingers together.

"W-wow Naruto-kun, that s-sounds like a really strong technique."

Naruto grinned at Hinata.

"You bet! It surrounds me in fox-shaped chakra that protects me from normal attacks; I can also extend the chakra and use it to attack. Octo-san and Yugi-onē-chan said it grows stronger depending on how many chakra tails there are."

Hinata blushed and looked down for a moment. '_He's gotten so much stronger already! How can I possibly keep up?'_

"T-that's really cool, Naruto-kun. But, w-why is it fox shaped?"

Naruto blinked before remembering his teammates didn't know anything about his jinchūriki status besides the fact that he was one.

"Oh yea, it's because I have the fox bijū sealed in me, so mine is a fox. Yugi-onē-san has a cat-bijū, so I guess hers would look like a cat. Octo-san showed me his, it's like a half ox-half octopus."

"I-is that why you call Bee-sama Octo-san?"

Naruto grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head.

"Haha, yea. That and the fact that he always spits ink out of his mouth to write in his rap notebook."

Everyone in hearing range shuddered at the thought of a notebook full of Bee-raps.

Naruto looked over to Sasuke and to his incredible surprise found Sasuke paying close attention to his explanation of his new technique.

"That sounds pretty strong, maybe you'll start to catch up to me now loser."

Naruto grinned at his rival.

"Heh just wait, jerk. Next time it'll be you catching up to me, dattebayo!"

Sasuke just closed his eyes and smirked, as usual.

"Hm. I'll believe it when you do it. By the way, you said the power depends on the number of tails? How many tails can you use then?"

Naruto blinked and thought back to his training.

"I can only use one tail so far. Octo-san and Yugi-onē-chan said since I don't really have control over my bijū, its personality seeps through with the chakra and tries to control me, so I shouldn't go higher than one tail until I can control it better. Octo-san's amazing though, he can use as many tails as he wants without his personality changing at all."

Nagato nodded and smiled. "Don't worry about how many tails you can use yet. It's very impressive you can even control that much chakra at all at your age." '_Especially considering you have the strongest bijū_' "Listen to Bee-sama and Yugito-sama, with bijū safe is definitely better than sorry."

Naruto nodded solemnly before turning to Hinata, grinning.

"So Hinata-chan, what sort of awesome training did you do?"

"Eep!"

Hinata, surprised by Naruto's sudden outburst and shift in attention, accidentally spilt the tea she was drinking, turning an entirely new shade of red while seemingly determined to push her fingers through each other.

"U-um, C-C-C-sama j-j-just showed me s-some medic j-jutsu and g-genjutsu, and w-worked with me on my t-taijutsu."

Naruto grinned and continued, seemingly unaware of Hinata's mishap.

"Whoa medic jutsu _and_ genjutsu? That's so cool Hinata-chan!"

Hinata's face turned even redder, though she smiled slightly.

"Y-you really think so?"

"Of course! I asked Nagato-sensei to teach me those, but he told me I wasn't good enough."

Naruto glared at Nagato as the reason Hinata was now learning two types of jutsu he wasn't. Nagato made no visible reactions to Naruto's glare as he explained.

"Technically you did, but actually you just went down a list of everything with the word 'jutsu' at the end and asked me to teach it to you."

Sasuke and even Hinata chuckled at that.

"And yes, you aren't good enough to learn genjutsu or medic jutsu, at least not in the areas necessary. Naruto, medic jutsu and genjutsu both require subtlety, extremely fine chakra control, a wide range of knowledge, and a mind that's constantly thinking and pondering, all of which Hinata possesses and you don't. You're more of an up-front, massive chakra kind of person. You would have trouble learning genjutsu or medic jutsu and honestly would probably be bored if we tried to sit you down and teach you everything you need to know to use either."

Naruto nodded but still looked away, pouting. Hinata blushed at Nagato's praise and then giggled a little at Naruto's reaction. Sasuke smirked.

"Heh, don't worry loser. With your shadow clones and that chakra cloak you're talking about, you can always be the meat shield while we prepare the cool jutsu."

Naruto glared at Sasuke, who continued smirking. Nagato smiled at the little exchange. '_At first I was worried about the tension, but they're actually more like siblings than enemies. I have a feeling their teamwork will be as unmatched in battle as their rivalry is outside it._

"Why, what did YOU learn that's so cool, jerk?"

Sasuke closed his eyes, but never lost his smirk, which was in fierce competition with indifference for his most common face.

"Only how to use this."

Sasuke opened his eyes, revealing his Sharingan. He smirked even more in satisfaction at the surprised gasps from his teammates.

"WHAAAATTT? HOW'D YOU GET THOSE?"

Sasuke closed his eyes and deactivated his Sharingan, still smirking.

"Heh, guess I'm just naturally talented in every way, eh loser?"

Naruto crossed his arms with his angry, pouting face, looking down.

"So unfair."

Hinata looked at Naruto with a worried look on her face.

"Congratulations Sasuke-kun. It's ok Naruto-kun, you're talented too! Like, y-you have the Kage Bunshin and you're a jinchūriki and have way more chakra than us."

Naruto looked up, bright and cheerful once more.

"Really Hinata-chan? Thanks you're the best!"

As Hinata fought to retain consciousness, Sasuke couldn't resist hijacking her complement.

"Yea loser, like I said. You're a really talented meat-shield."

Nagato chuckled as Naruto lept to try and strangle Sasuke, Sasuke calmly moved to the side, and Hinata tried to calm down Naruto. '_This is fun to watch, we should do this more often.'_

-Training Field C-One week later-

Nagato strolled to his team's usual meeting place, thinking over the results of last week's group training. _'As I thought, they work very well together in combat. While Naruto and Sasuke do try to out-perform each other, they can put away their rivalry when it really matters and when there's a common threat. Hinata's doing much better as well. Naruto's constant encouragement is doing wonders for her confidence. Even Sasuke's do-it-yourself attitude and brutal honesty doesn't seem to faze her, if anything I'd say it almost inspires her to work harder.'_

Nagato pushed aside his thoughts as he came up on his team. As usual, he was the last to arrive though only by a few minutes. After all, what kind of a sensei shows up late to team meetings?

"Good morning team, good work last week. You've progressed nicely; I hope to see even greater progress this month. Hinata, I've decided since medic jutsu and genjutsu take longer to learn and Naruto and Sasuke will both be learning elemental ninjutsu, you'll continue spending some of this month with C instead of switching completely to Yahiko. Yahiko will still meet with you in the mornings before you train with C, and then C will train you for the rest of the day. Sasuke, you'll be spending most of this month with Yahiko working on kenjutsu and taijutsu, Darui has also agreed to meet with you in the mornings to show you some raiton ninjutsu."

Naruto looked up Nagato inquisitively.

"What about me sensei?"

Nagato smiled at his most enthusiastic student.

"You, Naruto, shall be working with me personally. Bee-sama and Yugito-sama were gracious enough to show you how to access even more chakra, I will teach you some jutsu to use it with."

Naruto's face curled into a massive grin.

* * *

><p>Naruto could barely contain his excitement. Learning new jutsu with Nagato-sensei who always seemed to have a new jutsu in his arsenal! He'd know a thousand jutsu by the end of this month.<p>

"So Nagato-sensei? What jutsu are you going to teach me first? Some sort of awesome elemental jutsu? An ultimate defense jutsu? Huh huh?"

Nagato simply smiled.

"How about, all of the above, and then some?"

Nagato formed a cross with his fingers.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Dozens of Nagato's appeared in clouds of smoke and nodded at Naruto. Naruto smirked and formed his own cross shaped hand sign.

"Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Several hundred, maybe even a thousand Naruto clones appeared. Nagato smiled once again.

"The sheer number of clones you can make is always impressive Naruto. Split them up and send them off with my clones, if you know less than a hundred jutsu by the end of this month I'll be disappointed in you. Now you personally stay with me. We're going to use the previous month's lesson and teach you jutsu no genin should be able to learn."

The Naruto and Nagato clones split into groups and leapt away to train in various other jutsu and drills, leaving the real Naruto and Nagato alone.

"How would you like to learn Kuchiyose no Jutsu?"

Naruto's grin got even bigger.

"You mean you're going to teach me how to summon epic creatures like the Legendary Sannin or Hanzō can?"

Nagato nodded.

"Indeed, due to your naturally massive amounts of chakra and bijū chakra on top of that, you're one of the few if any genin with enough chakra to use Kuchiyose effectively. Like the Kage Bunshin, it's a powerful and flexible jutsu normally restricted to jōnin by sheer chakra requirements, so being able to use it as a genin will give you a massive advantage against other genin and even the odds against opponents you yourself can't handle."

Naruto's grin got even bigger.

"So I'm the only genin who can even use this jutsu?"

Nagato nodded.

"Probably not the only one, but I could count the number who can with one hand."

Naruto's grin got even bigger, which Nagato hadn't thought possible. _'Hm, I hope he's not growing a big head over this. Oh well, I'll just mention all the jutsu Hinata and Sasuke can use that he can't or something._

"So Sasuke can't even use this jutsu?"

Nagato burst out laughing. _'So that's where he's going with this. Should've seen that coming.'_

"Indeed, Naruto. But remember, you and Sasuke are different people with different strengths, so you shouldn't always compare. A little competition is good but focus on how much you can improve yourself."

Naruto nodded thoughtfully, but still had a smirk on his face.

"But we digress. So Naruto, do you know anything about how Kuchiyose no Jutsu works?"

"Of course! It, uh, you have to…"

Naruto thought about it for a minute before realizing he didn't actually know anything about how the Kuchiyose no Jutsu works.

"That's what I expected, it's pointless to teach students the exact details of a jutsu they shouldn't encounter for years and wouldn't be able to use for even longer. The general idea is, you sign a contract with a certain species of animal, and then you can summon that animal using your blood as a medium."

Naruto rubbed his head, eyes squinting as he thought really hard about what Nagato was saying.

"Soooo, I need to sign a contract…and blood?"

Nagato resisted laughing. '_Well, he's trying his very best. I should just show him.'_

"Yes and no."

Nagato performed the five hand-signs of Kuchiyose no Jutsu and slammed his palm on the ground.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

Naruto stepped back from the massive blast of smoke, which cleared to reveal several creatures of all different species. Nagato was sitting on the back of a large crab, petting what appeared to be a massive dog with a giant bird flying in the air behind him.

"Wait, didn't you say you sign a contract with a certain species sensei? And you didn't do anything with blood!"

Nagato smiled.

"Indeed, this is one of the first powers of the Rinnegan I've discovered; I've been gifted with a stronger Kuchiyose. I can summon a variety of species or even other people and without using blood or even hand signs if I need to. I also have complete control over them, they're granted Rinnegan eyes which allow me to see anything they can."

Naruto grinned again.

"Awesome! So you can teach me the stronger Kuchiyose, dattebayo!"

Nagato shook his head.

"Not exactly."

Nagato dispelled his summons, pulled out a large scroll, and opened it in front of Naruto.

"You don't have the Rinnegan as far as I know, so you'll be learning the original jutsu. Here, I've prepared this special contract myself. Instead of a species, you'll be signing a contract with me. You'll be able to summon any of the species I can; we'll start going through them while training the jutsu so you'll know which ones you have. You'll still have to use blood and hand-signs though. Sign your name here in blood, and we'll get started."

-Sukiyaki Restaurant-Three Weeks Later-

Nagato watched calmly as his team once again devoured the meal before them. He didn't mind their appetite as it was an aftereffect of their hard work, but he was equally glad he only paid for this kind of meal once a month. Feeding three hungry teens without any mission income was not an exciting prospect.

After eating for several minutes, Naruto slowed down enough to smirk at Sasuke.

"Nagato-sensei's the best, I learned a ton of jutsu this month, including one you can't even use, jerk."

Sasuke smirked back at Naruto.

"And what jutsu would that be, loser?"

Naruto held his smirk. '_Oh man this going to be so good. He's going to freak over this and then he'll acknowledge me as the best, dattebayo!'_

"Oh, you know, just the Kuchiyose no Jutsu, like the Sannin."

Hinata gasped at that, which Naruto enjoyed thoroughly. Sasuke, however…

"Cool, now you can summon something else to help you be the meat-shield when it's too hard for you."

Naruto made a fist in front of his face, eyes burning with the fires of rage.

"Darn it! Why do you always have to try and act so cool? You know how hard I worked to learn this?"

With that Naruto fell back into his seat, muttering to himself. Hinata touched his arm, trying to cheer him up though fighting the urge to faint at touching him.

"I-I thought y-your jutsu was really cool, Naruto-kun."

Naruto immediately cheered up and smiled at Hinata.

"Really? Thanks Hinata-chan. At least someone appreciates how awesome I am, dattebayo."

Naruto shot one more glare at Sasuke while Hinata giggled. Nagato watched the interaction with interest. _'Hm, Sasuke had a flash of guilt before Hinata stepped in. Interesting, Sasuke must be pushing Naruto more because he knows Hinata will smooth things over if he goes too far. They're starting to learn each other's reactions it seems._

"So, what did you learn that's so great, jerk?"

Sasuke smirked.

"Just some kenjutsu and raiton jutsu you probably can't use."

Naruto's eyes burned with rage again when he remembered Nagato said don't always compare. Besides, whatever Hinata learned was probably twice as cool as what that jerk learned anyways.

"Heh, is that all? Well, what did you learn Hinata-chan? I bet it's something way cooler than that jerk over there."

Hinata once again turned a new shade of red at the praise, enough that Nagato raised an eyebrow. '_How does she keep coming up with new shades? If she's half as creative with her genjutsu as her cheeks are with the color red, she'll be a literal nightmare to fight.'_

"U-um, n-nothing much. C-C-sama t-taught me more medic jutsu and genjutsu, and a sensor-jutsu. Yahiko-sama s-showed me a few suiton jutsu and s-some kenjutsu too."

Sasuke smirked at Naruto.

"Don't be modest. Probably more than that loser there."

"T-T-That's not true! I'm sure N-Naruto-kun worked really hard."

Hinata felt even more blood rushing to her face as she realized everyone's eyes were on her. She did just respond to Sasuke's jab at Naruto faster than Naruto after all.

"Right! What she said, dattebayo! Though he's probably right, I'm sure _you_ learned more than I did, Hinata-chan."

Naruto shot one more glare at Sasuke.

_THUD!_

The constant praise, slight physical contact with Naruto earlier, and implications of her outburst (that of course would be lost on Naruto) proved too much for Hinata.

"Hinata-chan? Are you ok? Nagato-sensei shouldn't we see a doctor about Hinata-chan's fever and fainting? This can't be good for her!"

Sasuke just shook his head.

"You really are an idiot, loser."

-Training Field C-One Week Later-

Nagato stood facing Hinata. Naruto had already left for the Valley of Clouds and Lightning and Sasuke had left to train kenjutsu with Yahiko before his training with Darui. The young girl looked nervous, she didn't really know what to expect with Nagato. Fortunately, Nagato didn't feel the need for suspense with his most gentle student. She always had enough drama with her teammates to keep him entertained after all.

"All right Hinata, C and Yahiko have already taught you most of the jutsu I think you'll need, so I'm going to focus on your dōjutsu."

Hinata nodded and watched Nagato attentively.

"Hai, Nagato-sensei!"

Nagato watched Hinata's response. _'Quick and polite. I would blame C but Hinata's naturally an attentive, polite person. It's a bit refreshing after her teammates though.'_

"You know the capabilities of your dōjutsu?"

Hinata nodded again.

"Hai, Nagato-sensei. I have the H-Hyūga clan's Byakugan. I c-can see 360 degrees in a small area, or farther if I focus. I can a-also see chakra and your chakra circulatory system. T-This means I can also learn the Jūken."

Nagato nodded in agreement.

"Here's the plan, I'm going to design several situations for you. Some you'll need to fight, others you'll need to catch a certain target with genjutsu, others will be healing a teammate. The different situations will continue to train you in the jutsu you've been learning, but in every situation you'll need your Byakugan. I'll be attacking from all around both up close and with fast, long range attacks from outside normal visual range, all of them just fast enough you'll need to be watching everywhere at once to dodge effectively. I imagine C already trained your dodging, combined with your Byakugan you should just barely be able to dodge everything. When I sense it growing easier for you, I'll step up the range and number of attacks. In addition, halfway through each day I'll train you in suiton jutsu until you're low on chakra, then we'll resume dodging training so you learn to use your Byakugan and fight effectively in the worst case scenario. Are you ready, Hinata?"

Hinata nodded, a little slower than before.

"H-Hai, Nagato-sensei."

Nagato smiled warmly at her.

"Don't worry Hinata, I'm not going to do anything you can't handle. This is meant to help you after all. Just trust in yourself and do your best and you'll do fine."

Hinata nodded again, more quickly and firmly this time.

"T-Thank you Nagato-sensei."

Nagato nodded, still smiling.

"Let's begin."

-Teppanyaki Restaraunt-One Month Later-

"Excellent work team, I'd have to say you exceeded my expectations for you. I think you all are ready now, and will make a fine showing at the Chūnin Exams."

Team Fire practically glowed under their sensei's praise.

"With that in mind, eat up, tonight is on me as the final send-off. Oh, by the way I invited a friend and her team to eat with us. They'll also be participating in the exams and will be travelling with us. Look, here they come now."

Team Fire turned and looked towards the door. There they saw a woman around Nagato's height and age, with blue hair and grey eyes. She wore a black karate top under the white, single strapped flak jacket of Kumogakure, and a skirt bottom with mesh stockings. On her forehead was the Kumogakure forehead protector, and in her hair was a light-blue paper flower. She smiled and waved when she spotted Nagato.

"Hey Nagato! How have you been?"

Nagato also smiled and waved back his friend.

"Hey Konan, have a seat. Your team too."

Following Konan was Team Water from the academy, consisting of Kimimaro, Haku, and Tayuya, who proceeded to sit down.

"Team, why don't you introduce yourselves?"

Kimimaro turned and bowed to Nagato and his team.

"Hello, I'm Arashi no Kimimaro. This is Arashi no Haku, and Arashi no Tayuya."

Haku also bowed.

"Pleased to meet your acquaintances."

Tayuya did not also bow until nudged and glared at by Konan.

"What the…I mean, _pleased_ to meet your acquaintances."

Konan nodded at Tayuya. Nagato looked inquisitively at his friend, then motioned for his team to follow suit. Naruto, of course, spoke first.

"Hey! I'm Arashi no Naruto, the next Raikage dattebayo! This is Arashi no Hinata."

Naruto then glared at Sasuke.

"And this jerk is Arashi no Sasuke."

Hinata got up and bowed.

"P-pleased to meet you."

Sasuke just grunted and nodded at the new team. The genin sat by each other while Nagato and Konan started catching up. Naruto decided to break the silence.

"Huh, so we're all Arashi program kids? Guess that makes us kind of like family huh? How come we never saw you guys?"

Haku chuckled at Naruto's comments.

"Hehe indeed, Naruto-kun. We lived together on a separate floor above yours. We've occasionally seen each other in passing but never really met."

Naruto nodded.

"Oh I get it, well glad to meet you all now! We're all going to crush everyone in this Exam together, dattebayo!"

Tayuya shook her head.

"$#!-ing Idiot, don't you realize we might end up fighting each other during this exam?"

Sasuke closed his mouth. Tayuya literally took the words right out of it, plus an…embellishment or two.

Naruto looked confused.

"But aren't we from the same village? Shouldn't we help each other out so we all can pass?"

Sasuke shook his head.

"During the exam, it's everyone for themselves, loser. You have to treat everyone as an enemy, even friends."

Kimimaro then shook his own head.

"Indeed, but Naruto-san has a point. As we are from the village and as Kumogakure doesn't send many representatives, we should do everything we can to help each other out should we meet during the exam."

Sasuke thought about it for a moment. Hinata took the pause as her opportunity to speak up.

"I-I think K-Kimimaro-san is right. W-We should try to h-help each other."

Sasuke closed his eyes and grunted.

"I guess you're right. Truce then?"

Kimimaro smiled and extended his hand. Sasuke responded in kind and shook.

"Truce."

-Outside the Restaurant-After Dinner-

Team Fire and Team Water had become instant friends once the Chūnin Exam alliance was hammered out. Meaning Kimimaro, Haku, Naruto, and Hinata had become great friends with Tayuya and Sasuke off to the side, though perhaps those two bonded over their mutual disdain for everyone else. If they stopped disdaining each other for a moment that is.

"Haha this is great, I wish I knew you guys in the Academy. We don't even have to say goodbye because we all live in the same building!"

Haku chuckled and smiled.

"Indeed, we should meet more often."

The genin turned as their jōnin sensei exited the restaurant after paying. Konan spoke up.

"Well team, tomorrow's the big day. You all know what you need to pack; I'll expect you by the gate tomorrow morning. We have a long trip ahead of us."

Nagato nodded.

"Same goes for you team. Pack for a long trip, we don't know when we'll be heading back after all."

Naruto saluted.

"Right Nagato-sensei! It should be for a really long trip since we're staying to the end!"

Everyone chuckled at Naruto's enthusiasm. Konan tapped Naruto on the shoulder.

"By the way Naruto-kun, do you always wear that outfit?"

Naruto looked confused, and then looked to Nagato.

"Answer correctly Naruto, for your own sake. This is a battle I can't save you from."

Naruto looked back to Konan, even more confused.

"Well yea, I love orange! I wear this outfit all the time, everywhere."

Nagato sighed and shook his head while Konan grabbed Naruto's collar, and started walking away.

"As I expected. Come along now, if you're going to represent Kumogakure in front of the whole world, you'll need to look somewhat decent. Maybe some nice blue…"

Tayuya made an evil grin.

"Heh heh heh, oh I'll come with you, Konan-sensei. Come on Haku, this will be fun."

Haku smiled as well.

"I apologize, Naruto-kun. But this is for your own benefit."

Naruto's eyes widened in terror as he realized what was coming.

"Whaaa…help Nagato-sensei!"

Nagato shook his head.

"You've brought this on yourself Naruto. You tried to break the cycle of fashion with your absurd clothing and bought yourself a short period of peace. But that period is over, and with new female influences in your life the cycle of fashion begins anew."

Naruto looked desperately at his team. He knew Sasuke wouldn't help, that jerk was probably enjoying every moment of this. Naruto turned to Hinata, his last hope.

"H-Hinata-chan…"

Hinata had been inching towards Konan, face turning redder with every step. Hinata closed her eyes and bunched up her hands by her face.

"I-I want to c-come too, Konan-sensei!"

Naruto only stared in horror as his last hope vanished.

"H-Hinata-chan?"

Nagato, Sasuke, and Kimimaro smiled and waved as Naruto was dragged off into the distance.

-Kumogakure Gates-The Next Morning-

Team Water waited by the gates with Nagato as they waited for Nagato's team.

"Nagato, you really should make sure your team arrives on time. We really need to get going."

Nagato nodded.

"It's not like them to be late; normally they arrive before I do. I wonder what's taking them."

Konan shook her head.

"If you say so. By the way, aren't you worried about taking them to Konoha? You may be unbeatable but you can't watch them the entire exam."

Nagato shook his head.

"I already discussed that with the Raikage. We have a plan in case things go wrong."

Konan watched Nagato. She wanted to believe him but still looked worried.

"But, shouldn't you at least try to disguise them? The Hokage might know not to try anything but what if the civilians or lower ninja recognize them and cause trouble?"

Nagato thought about it for a moment.

"Perhaps you're right. I wonder though how I'll explain it to them without arousing suspic.."

"Oi, hey Nagato-sensei!"

Nagato turned to see his team, and the reason they were late. Konan and Haku put their hands to their mouths. Tayuya burst out laughing.

The entire Team Fire had bright red hair. In addition, Naruto was wearing a new outfit. He had on a light blue shirt-robe with white trimmings, matching pants, and a blue belt. Naruto grinned.

"Do you like it, Nagato-sensei? Since Konan-sensei changed my clothes, I thought I'd change my hair too! And your red hair is so awesome! But I thought we all should do it as a team, so I convinced Hinata-chan and the jerk to do it too."

Sasuke grunted and looked away.

"If by convinced you mean snuck into my room and jumped me with Kage Bunshin."

Naruto smirked.

"Well you shouldn't have had your guard down, right jerk?"

Tayuya's laughter died down for a moment.

"He got you there, why don't you just wash it out."

Sasuke turned his head away again, arms still crossed. Naruto smirked even more.

"Hinata-chan helped me make this special dye. It won't come out until after the Exams. He's stuck like this now."

Nagato stared at his team. _'Naruto, you're amazing. Everyone identifies ninja by their hair, heck that's how we identify members great clans besides Hyūgas. This is absolutely perfect.'_ However, for appearances, Nagato sweat-dropped.

"Um, I suppose I should be flattered. Very well, I guess we can bind as a team over our…hair. Anyways, Konan, team, get ready to move out."

Nagato stood up and faced the road, Konan at his side with the six genin behind them.

"Our destination is Konoha."

* * *

><p><strong>Jutsu List<strong>

Kuchiyose no Jutsu (Summoning Jutsu): Summons stuff. Like Conjuration magic! Only you normally need blood and a contract, unless you have the Rinnegan.


	6. Chapter 5: She's hugging him!

****Author's note: Sup everyone. Kinda dying right now. Sick bleh. Plus end of semester so can't sleep either. Skyrim probably not helping. But who cares about all that? New Chapter whoot! With OCs in it whoot! Whose personality I did not create by fusing nu-13 from Blazblue with Sayuri of Naruto Genkyouien by Daneel Rush whoot!. Which you all should read. Far more entertaining than my fic whoot! But anyways.

So yea, chuunin exams, whoot. Didn't really change the first exam much, sorry if you wanted to see that. It's a decently designed test and Konoha doesn't really have a logical reason to change it in mine. Small little changes here and there but nothing major. More exciting stuff should happen in the other two exams.

Review Shoutouts! Come on guys. Just one more to break 20. And then I can feel good about myself.

ZeroZangetsu and HappyHannie: Thanks for your words of encouragement! Glad you guys like it!

Butterfly-fighter: lols I guess someone didn't want to get fus-ro-dah-ed

harubana: Thanks for your encouragement! Haha you realized the initial intent of this fic, congratulations!

O Jordinio O: I apologize, but you waited too long to respond. Too late to destroy it now :P. Seems you don't like canon Naruto, I believe I already explained why I didn't change him much, though I imagine you would not read this far but eh anything's possible. Sorry I can't help this: accept that Naruto's in Kumo? Done. I did put him there myself after all :P.

The Lament Beast: Thanks again for your words of encouragement! Quite a nice review, Latin was a nice touch.

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><p>Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Or Naruto Genkyouien which you all should read. Or Blazblue which you all should play. Or Skyrim which I wish I was playing. But finals :(. Sigh Odahviing you know how to do Chinese presentations by any chance?<p>

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><p><strong>Chapter 5: She's <strong>_**hugging **_**him!**

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><p>-Office of the Hokage, Konohagakure-Several Days before Chūnin Exams-<p>

Hatake Kakashi strolled into the Hokage's room, reading his book. He was two hours late, but he doubted Sandaime even noticed. To be fair, Sandaime was a great Hokage, however in his old age he was starting to…forget things. Which Kakashi's chronic tardiness did not help in the slightest.

"Good morning Hokage-sama. Sorry I'm late; I just got lost on the path of life."

The Hokage let a puff of smoke out of his pipe.

"Yes come in, come in, um why are you here again Kakashi?"

Kakashi flipped a page in his book.

"You called me here to ask about my team I believe."

The Hokage closed his eyes. He looked deep in thought for a moment, then his eyes opened, his bright intellect once more apparent. Also apparent was his age, as the Hokage suddenly looked very weary. Kakashi was reminded that he had been an old man enjoying retirement when circumstances threw him back into the most powerful but most stressful position in the village and possibly the world.

"Ah yes! I remember now. I apologize Kakashi; these are getting more and more frequent. I think I'll need to appoint a successor soon. But anyways, how is your team?"

Kakashi looked at the old man with pity, then smiled with his eye. If nothing else, at least he could give the Hokage some good news.

"They've come along quite nicely. I personally guarantee they're ready for the exam."

The Hokage nodded, closed his eyes and leaned back, as if resting for just a moment.

"Good, good. You know Kakashi, I've been under a lot of pressure to deny your nomination of them. A lot of arguments over why they aren't ready."

Kakashi's eye turned from smiling to serious.

"I'm sure. Just like there were a lot of arguments over why Uzumaki Naruto didn't need a guardian."

The Hokage thought about it for a moment, and then winced when he remembered who Uzumaki Naruto was. Kakashi felt a pang of guilt for bringing up the Hokage's biggest mistake, but he would do what he needed to ensure his team's success. He had already failed too many comrades to fail once more.

The Hokage nodded slowly as he let out another puff of smoke.

"Indeed, the main reason I've been able to grant you and your team as much freedom as I have. Don't worry Kakashi, I won't make the same mistake again if I can help it."

The Hokage looked up at the pictures of the previous Hokages, focusing on the picture of a young, blond-haired man.

"If only Yondaime were here."

Kakashi's eyes softened. Sandaime was normally the one telling others they couldn't keep relying on those who were gone. Sandaime was confiding in him what he could tell no one else. Kakashi remembered Sandaime didn't really have any friends left, his only living peers being the village council and Danzō, all of whom had political agendas.

"Sometimes I feel the same. But I guess it's up to us to honor his legacy. It's not like he'll just come walking back into Konoha someday, so we'll have to make do as best we can."

Kakashi turned from the picture of Yondaime back to Sandaime.

"So why did you really call me here, Hokage-sama?"

Sandaime nodded, his face serious. All weariness vanished, and he appeared the strong, resolute Hokage he once was.

"Two teams from Kumogakure are scheduled to arrive tomorrow for the Chūnin Exams."

Kakashi's eyes narrowed.

"Kumogakure? Hasn't the Raikage skipped every exam held in Konoha so far?"

The Hokage nodded.

"Indeed, which is why I've called you here today. I want you to greet the teams and escort them home."

Kakashi thought for a moment. Sending such a high-profile escort could be construed as either honor or suspicion.

"Wouldn't they feel threatened by such a high-level guard?"

Sandaime nodded again.

"They would, which is why I want you to take your genin squad as well."

Kakashi thought about it, and realized it was a well-thought out plan. Sending a high level escort like Kakashi would honor the visitors while sending his genin team would alleviate any suspicion. It also meant Kakashi could keep an eye on them while preventing any incidents with the locals. Konoha and Kumogakure weren't exactly friends, and as the Hokage recently discovered despite his intentions the villagers had a mind of their own.

"Kakashi, this is a rare opportunity for us. Kumogakure has not made such a gesture since the Hyūga affair, and, despite any suspicions we have, we must take the risk that it's genuine. Who knows, maybe your team will hit it off with theirs, and when all us old geezers with memories of war are gone, they can forge a brighter future together. In any case, Kumogakure is simply too strong, their Arashi program too effective for us to afford any incidents; we need this to work. Can I count on you?"

Kakashi smiled at the Hokage and gave him a thumbs up.

"Leave it to me, Hokage-sama."

-The Road to Konoha, Hi no Kuni-

"Ah-choo! Whoa! Oof!"

Naruto's sudden sneeze threw him off balance during his taijutsu training, and he fell to the ground. He lay on the ground for a second resting, then slowly stood back up. He was about to resume his work out when he heard rustling in a bush nearby. Naruto's eyes narrowed as he started his work out, slowly and what he hoped was subtly moving his hand closer and closer to his kunai pouch.

"Hah got you!"

Naruto spun around and threw a kunai in the direction of the noise. Naruto's aim, however, was a little off and instead of hitting the bush the kunai buried itself into a nearby tree, only inches to the right of a small, trembling young girl. Naruto's eyes widened in horror. He saw water building up in the girl's eyes.

'_Oh Kami she's going to cry. What have I done?'_

Naruto put his hands out in what he hoped was a peaceful manner, and took a step forward.

"Hey, I'm really sorry about that, are you ok?"

For the young girl, however, the single step forward was too much.

"WAAHHHH!"

The girl burst in to tears, spun around, and started running from Naruto. Naruto did the first thing that came to mind, which was chase after the poor girl.

"Hey wait! I promise I'm not going to hurt you!"

* * *

><p>After a few minutes of running, Naruto finally caught up to the girl. She had plopped herself down in the middle of a small clearing in the forest, kneeling with her legs bent outward and sobbing. Naruto walked up to the girl, and gently placed his hand on her shoulder. The girl stiffened at the contact.<p>

"Hey, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to hurt you, I thought you might have been an enemy sneaking up on me! You shouldn't sneak up on ninja like that…Oof!"

"Wahhhh!"

Naruto fell to the ground as the small girl tackled him and buried her head in his stomach, sobbing as she wrapped her arms around him. Naruto just sat there awkwardly for a minute, no idea what to do as the girl sobbed. He put his arm around the crying girl and waited; after a while her sobs died down and she lifted her face from his stomach, rubbing her eyes with a sniff or two.

"Hey, I'm really sorry about before. I hope I didn't hurt you. My name is Arashi no Naruto, shinobi of Kumogakure. What's your name?"

The girl sniffed one more time and rubbed one of her eyes.

"T-Tsukiko…"

"Hello Tsukiko, are you all right?"

The girl nodded slowly and pointed at Naruto.

"Mhm. Naruto-onī-chan."

Naruto nodded.

"Yep, that's my name! What were you doing out here by the way?"

The girl looked down, somewhat sad.

"I-I was lonely, cause people are mean to me sometimes, s-so I go here where people aren't mean. But now I'm not lonely 'cause Naruto-onī-chan is friendly!"

With that, the young girl grabbed Naruto in a hug once again, nuzzling her head against his chest. Naruto blushed, unsure of how to respond, so he just put his arm around her and let her stay there. '_I'm not sure why, but I feel like I can relate to this girl.'_

Naruto took the opportunity to take a good look at the girl as he hadn't really had the chance to previously. She was younger than him, around 8 years old. She had long, straight black hair, and was wearing a short, blue-gray kimono with black trimmings over a gray, short-sleeved turtle neck, a grey-green sash, and black shorts. Naruto also noticed something peculiar about her eyes.

'_Whoa! Those are some big, red eyes! I wonder if she has a d__ō__jutsu too…then again they don't really look like Sharingan and I haven't heard of any other red d__ō__jutsu. It's weird though, I feel…calmer around this girl for some reason.'_

The girl looked up at Naruto with those same red eyes, watching him like he was currently the only thing in existence.

"Onī-chan, what were you doing in the forest?"

Naruto paused for a second. On one hand, Nagato-sensei always said not to reveal any ninja traits or training if he could help it. _'On the other hand, she's a little girl and I don't see a forehead protector or anything. It couldn't hurt, right?'_

"I was training for the Chūnin Exams, I'm going to Konoha and I'm going to whoop everyone there, dattebayo!"

Tsukiko giggled and smiled.

"Yay! Onī-chan's coming home! Will onī-chan visit Tsukiko there?"

She looked up at Naruto with puppy eyes. '_Gah! S-s-stop that! It's controlling my brain!'_

"Well, I don't know, I'll probably be busy with the exam and all."

Naruto felt a piece of his soul die from the heart-wrenching yet still incredibly cute look of disappointment on Tsukiko's face.

"B-but if I do have time, I'll definitely visit you, it's a promise, dattebayo!"

Naruto fell to the ground as Tsukiko tackled him in a hug once again.

"YAY! Tsukiko gets to see onī-chan again! Onī-chan's so friendly and nice!"

Naruto blushed at the compliment. He had friends and such, but he wasn't used to this level of appreciation. _'Wow, how lonely must she be for her to latch on to a stranger who almost accidentally killed her? That or she's just the friendliest and most forgetful little girl ever.'_

Tsukiko suddenly shot up, a sad look on her face.

"Mugyuu…Tsukiko has to go home now, Tsukiko doesn't want to be late 'cause Tsukiko's a good girl."

She suddenly brightened up.

"But onī-chan promised to visit Tsukiko so it's ok! Bye Naruto-onī-chan!"

Naruto looked confused and then realized she was leaving. '_Wait, I shouldn't let a little girl walk home alone through the forest!'_

"Wait Tsukiko!"

However, by the time Naruto had stood up, Tsukiko had vanished, leaving Naruto to shake his head.

'_What just happened?'_

Naruto's thoughts on the encounter were suddenly broken by a familiar voice.

"Hey loser, what are you doing way out here? We're about to head out, wander off again and we might just leave you and pick you up on the way home."

Naruto glared at Sasuke, who simply turned around and walked back towards where the main group was. Naruto shook his head one more time and followed.

-Konoha Gates-The Next Day-

Sakura strolled to the front gates, wondering what Kakashi-sensei had for them to do. He said they had today off on account of the Exam being tomorrow, so this couldn't be a training session. Sakura put aside her thoughts as she saw one of her teammates already there, sitting on a bench and drawing on a notepad as she always did. Sakura smiled and waved.

"Hi Tsukiko-chan! How are you today?"

The little girl looked up from her drawing and watched Sakura with her big, red eyes. She spoke in a calm, emotionless voice.

"Hi Sakura-onē-chan."

With that, Tsukiko went back to her drawing, intent on finishing whatever it was. Tsukiko had always been withdrawn and calm ever since Sakura met her. She had never seen Tsukiko beforehand or ever met her family. Kakashi-sensei had shown up with her on their first day as a team and introduced her. _'She must have been really talented and had a private tutor or something. I wonder where she came from.' _

At that time Inner Sakura decided to jump in. _**'CHA! All this time competing with Ino and this little girl becomes a genin at only eight!'**_

Sakura walked over to her young teammate and leaned over her shoulder. She was drawing a young boy, around Sakura's age, who had spikey hair, a cheerful smile, and whisker-shaped scars on his cheek. Sakura again smiled at Tsukiko.

"Who are you drawing Tsukiko-chan?"

Tsukiko again looked up at Sakura.

"Onī-chan." She said firmly, as if that explained everything.

Sakura looked confused.

"Who is your onī-chan? I didn't know you had a brother."

Tsukiko shook her head, then pointed at her drawing and said "Onī-chan," once again.

Sakura blinked. _'That's right, Tsukiko calls everyone she knows brother and sister. He must be a friend or something. But who is he? He seems familiar for some reason but I can't figure out why. I'm sure I've never seen him before.'_

'_**CHA! First she's a genin at eight and now she's got a boyfriend before us too!'**_

Sakura blinked at her inner self. _'Wha..? She never said boyfriend. Though he is kind of cute, I kind of want to meet him now.'_

"Yo, hey Sakura! Hey Tsukiko! What you drawing?"

Sakura turned to see their third teammate, Kōta, approaching. Kōta was one of the boys from Sakura's class in the academy. He was a loud, friendly boy who was also very curious. Sakura had met him before becoming a team because he knew a lot about the Uchiha clan, one of whom Sakura had been interested in before they all vanished.

"Hi Kōta! Oh, Tsukiko's drawing some boy she met."

Tsukiko repeated 'Onī-chan' again and then went back to her drawing.

"By the way, do you know why Kakashi-sensei called us here?"

Kōta shrugged.

"Beats me, I thought we had the day off. Since the Chūnin Exams are tomorrow there are a lot of foreign ninja here, was going to go see if I could find any. Maybe we'll get lucky and see more here at the gate!"

Sakura thought back to their run-in with the Suna genin earlier. She wasn't sure she wanted to meet any more foreign ninja if that's what they all were like.

"Yo."

The team turned and their mouths dropped as they saw Kakashi-sensei standing behind them, on time. Kakashi-sensei was always on-time for training sessions and missions, but never anything else. They hadn't expected him for at least another hour or two. Kōta pointed and voiced all their thoughts.

"K-Kakashi-sensei! You're on time! Is this a training session or something?"

Kakashi shook his head.

"Nope, it's a C-rank mission! Today some teams from Kumogakure are arriving for the exam, we're going to greet them and escort them to their hotel."

Sakura looked confused.

"But Kakashi-sensei, haven't foreign ninja been arriving for a while now? I haven't seen anyone else getting escorts."

Kakashi eye smiled at his student.

"Very observant, Sakura-chan. Indeed, no other team has gotten this treatment. But that's because it's normal for other villages to attend the Exam. Kumo and Konoha haven't been on the best of terms, and they've never sent a team to an Exam hosted here. It's a special moment that could dramatically change our villages' relationship, so do your best to be friendly and polite. Oh look, here they come now, let's go say hello."

Kakashi strolled over to the gate and his three genin followed. There, they saw a group of eight Kumo ninja, six around their age and two around Kakashi's age or maybe slightly older. They were talking to the two guards, Kotetsu and Izumo. Kakashi waved Kotetsu and Izumo back to their posts.

"Don't worry, I'll take over from here."

Kakashi then turned to the group from Kumogakure and stuck out his hand towards the male shinobi he presumed to be a jōnin sensei.

"Yo, you must be the teams from Kumogakure. Welcome to Konoha, allow my team and I to escort you around the village."

The man grabbed Kakashi's hand and nodded.

"Thank you. Hatake Kakashi, it's quite an honor."

Kakashi gave the man an eye smile.

"Oh no, the honor is all mine, Arashi no Nagato."

Kakashi turned his head towards the female jōnin.

"And Arashi no Konan."

Konan nodded at Kakashi.

"Pleased to meet you."

Kakashi maintained his eye smile.

"Well then, how about we introduce our teams? Hokage-sama hopes we'll get along in our short time togeth…"

"ONĪ-CHAN!"

Kakashi and Nagato turned their heads in surprise as they watched Kakashi's youngest squad member rush and tackle one of the Kumo genin in a hug. The Kumo ninja blushed and grinned sheepishly.

"Oh, hey Tsukiko. Nice to see you too."

Kakashi and Nagato simultaneously raised an eyebrow and spoke in sync.

"You know each other?"

The Kumo genin grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head.

"Haha yea, we met in the forest yesterday. She didn't have her forehead protector on so I didn't know she was a kunoichi here."

The genin grinned and turned to Tsukiko, who was busy nuzzling her head in his chest.

"But at least I get to keep my promise to visit her."

Kakashi watched inquisitively. _'Hmmm, I've never seen Tsukiko act like that; this must be one special guy. At least she made a friend though, though it would be with a ninja from Kumogakure. Also, something about him seems very familiar though, but I can't put my finger on it.' _

Kakashi took a good look at the genin from Kumogakure. They all seemed just like normal genin, but the three standing closest to Nagato all seemed incredibly familiar to Kakashi, as if he should know them. The red hair completely threw him off though, he was sure he didn't know anyone with red hair besides Chōza. No one alive at least. And the girl was wearing sunglasses. Almost no one outside the Aburame clan did that!

Nagato, for his part, seemed to be studying Tsukiko intently. '_That's…interesting. Quite interesting indeed.'_

Sakura had just recovered from her shock at Tsukiko's complete break from her normal personality. Tsukiko barely put five words together…now she was running and screaming like a normal girl her age. _**'CHA! Who is this guy and what has he done to Tsukiko-chan?'**_

Sakura walked up to the Kumo genin and rolled up her sleeve.

"Hey! What did you do to Tsukiko-chan?"

The Kumo genin looked at her, surprised and confused.

"What do you mean?"

Sakura's eyes burned in rage.

"Don't play dumb! Tsukiko never acts like this! I won't let you mess with my teammate like that."

The genin looked even more surprised and confused.

"Whaaaaa….? You mean she's not always like this?"

"Of course not! Normally she's the most quiet, reserved girl we know!"

The Kumo genin waved his hands in a placating manner.

"Ahhh! I didn't do anything I promise! She's acted like this since we met! Just ask Hinata-chan! She'll vouch for me, right Hinata-chan?"

The Kumo genin turned around and looked at his teammate, expecting Hinata would come to his rescue. However, he failed to notice the dark storm cloud above Hinata's head, who was looking down and mumbling to herself, seemingly oblivious to her teammate's plight. The Kumo genin started sweating as he looked back at Sakura, who was only growing angrier by the second. The genin turned to Nagato, eyes desperate.

"N-Nagato-sensei you'll vouch for me right? I don't even know any jutsu that could do this!"

Nagato's mouth curled into an evil grin.

"Don't be so hard on yourself Naruto, you were doing so well learning all those jutsu I tried teaching you."

Naruto's eyes widened in horror. He very slowly turned his head, just in time to see Sakura's fist flying into his face.

"Waaaaaah! Sakura-onē-chan, why are you hurting onī-chan? Onī-chan didn't hurt Tsukiko."

"Now you tell her…."

Naruto's eyes were spinning, stars flying around his head. His vision finally cleared to see his teammate standing above him.

"Well loser, at least you're doing your job as the meatshield."

Naruto jumped up in rage, but then let out a deep breath and calmly replied.

"Hey, I just got attacked by a foreign ninja, aren't we supposed to protect our comrades, dattebayo?"

Naruto's teammate blinked. '_That was, a relatively intelligent response. And too calm. What's going on with loser?'_

"Meh, not if you got yourself into it."

The other Kumo team just shook their heads chuckling. Kakashi eye smiled. _'So far so good. They're getting along just wonderfully it seems.'_

Then Kakashi had a thought that caused him to pause for a moment. '_Wait, Hinata, Naruto, that guy who looks like chibi Itachi with red hair…and that "dattebayo" ending…" _Kakashi's eye dropped from its eye smile as the realization hit him. Kakashi slowly turned to Nagato, who grinned at him innocently.

"So team, though it appears some of you are already acquainted, why don't you introduce yourselves formally?"

Naruto rubbed his swollen cheek but was still the first to speak.

"Hey everyone, my name is Arashi no Naruto, the next Raikage!" '_Hm, maybe I shouldn't say the next Raikage all the time. Oh! I should probably let Hinata-chan and jerk introduce themselves this time.'_

Naruto turned to his teammate. Nagato tapped Hinata on the shoulder, who looked up for a second.

"A-Arashi no Hinata…"

Naruto's other teammate grunted.

"Arashi no Sasuke."

"And I'm Arashi no Nagato, pleased to meet you."

Konan's team stepped forward as well. The male on the team stepped forward first and gave a bow.

"Greetings, I'm Arashi no Kimimaro. This is Arashi no Haku."

Haku bowed.

"How do you do?"

"And Arashi no Tayuya."

Tayuya just grunted until she caught Konan staring at her.

"Ugh, hello."

"And I'm Arashi no Konan."

Kakashi still had a serious look on his face, but returned the courtesy.

"Hello everyone, I'm Hatake Kakashi. This is Haruno Sakura."

"H-Hello."

Sakura looked extremely embarrassed at her earlier outburst, and looked apologetically at Naruto. Her brain suddenly made some connections. '_Wait, he looks exactly like Tsukiko's picture. This is who she meant by onī-chan!'_

'_**CHA! That explains her change of personality! She totally did get a boyfriend before I did! And a cute one too! Well that Sasuke kid is kind of cool too, I should try hanging with him!'**_

'_Wait, Naruto, Sasuke, Hinata, why do those names sound familiar?'_

"Tsuchiyama Kōta."

Kōta waved.

"Hey everyone."

"And Tsukiko."

Who was busy hugging 'onī-chan.'

Kakashi turned to Nagato and forced an eye smile.

"Well, now that the introductions are out of the way, how about we show you where you'll be staying? I'm sure you're all quite tired from your trip."

Konan smiled and nodded.

"Yes, I think we'd enjoy that."

Nagato nodded, and again smiled innocently at Kakashi.

"Indeed, this is the first foreign village our teams have visited after all. They're quite excited to see inside the village."

Kakashi looked at Nagato for a moment, then eye smiled again.

"All right, let's go then."

Kakashi led the group into the village. Konan followed closely behind, while Nagato brought up the rear. The genin squads intermixed along the trip while Kakashi and Konan had some light conversation. Kōta immediately started chatting with Haku and Kimimaro, while Tsukiko remained glued to Naruto. Sakura walked by Naruto and Sasuke, conversing with Naruto and trying to converse with Sasuke, who remained aloof, as did Tayuya. Hinata followed behind Naruto and Sasuke, still looking down with storm clouds above her head.

"Whoa! Is that the famous Hokage mountain?"

Kakashi turned around and eye smiled at Naruto.

"Yep, those are the faces of our Kages, in chronological order from left to right."

Tsukiko suddenly pointed excitedly at the face farthest to the right.

"Look look onī-chan! It's Minato-oji-san! He looks like onī-chan hehe!"

Naruto looked up at the face of the Yondaime Hokage.

"Hey yea, he kind of does look like me. Haha, maybe I'm his long lost son or something!"

Kakashi suddenly started coughing. Konan looked at him worried.

"Kakashi-san, are you all right?"

Kakashi turned to her and eye smiled weakly.

"Oh yes, nothing to worry about. My throat's just a little dry is all."

Nagato grinned in the back, then returned to a stoic face as he thought about the exact wording of the exchange. '_Tsukiko-chan referred to Yondaime Hokage as "oji-san," as if she knew him personally. But Yondaime Hokage died fighting the Kyūbi twelve years ago, and from what I can see Tsukiko's no older than eight. What an interesting girl…'_

Tsukiko giggled at Naruto's 'joke' and nuzzled closer to Naruto. Sakura felt a slight feeling of cold from behind Naruto and Sasuke. Nagato walked up and place his hand on Hinata's shoulder.

"Is something wrong, Hinata-chan?"

Hinata looked at Nagato for a moment, then shook her head.

"N-nothing Nagato-sensei."

Nagato nodded his head to let her know he understood. Hinata returned to facing down while Nagato returned to the back of the group.

Kakashi led them inside a particularly fancy hotel and stopped in front of the desk. He turned around and gave the group one more eye smile.

"Well, here we are. The receptionist can show you to your rooms. Let us know if there're any problems. The Exams will begin tomorrow at 4pm in Room 301 at the Academy. A chūnin will stop by around that time to show you all where it is. Well, hope you have a good time in Konoha and good luck on the Exams!"

Konan and Nagato bowed to Kakashi. Konan spoke for the two.

"Thank you, Kakashi-san. Good luck to your team as well, if they are competing."

Kakashi eye smiled and nodded then looked at his team, Tsukiko in particular.

"Well guys, we should probably let our visitors rest a bit. Let's say our goodbyes and head out."

Kōta and Sakura quickly said their goodbyes and walked over to Kakashi. Tsukiko looked at Kakashi, then looked back up at Naruto and frowned.

"Mugyuu….Onī-chan, Tsukiko has to leave. But Tsukiko doesn't want to leave onī-chan!"

Naruto grinned at the little girl.

"Don't worry Tsukiko, I'm sure we'll meet again, dattebayo!"

Tsukiko looked up at him again.

"Promise?"

Naruto nodded, smiled and gave her a thumbs-up.

"I promise."

Tsukiko then smiled, hugged Naruto one more time, and walked over to Kakashi. Reunited once again, Team 7 left the hotel. The moment they stepped out of the hotel, everyone noticed Tsukiko's cheerful smile and happy skipping turn back into a stoic face and calm stroll. Sakura turned toward her little teammate.

"So Tsukiko, was that the boy you were drawing?"

Tsukiko just nodded slowly.

"Mhm…"

Sakura smiled at her.

"Well, he seems like a nice boy, though he is from another village. What do you think, Kakashi-sensei?"

However, Kakashi appeared lost in his thoughts.

"Sorry guys, I need to go report to the Hokage, you have the rest of the day off. Enjoy yourselves, and I'll see you later. Good luck on the exam."

Kakashi made a ram sign and vanished in a puff of smoke.

-The Hokage's Office-

Sandaime sat on a stool, blissfully painting as the day passed on. He had a brief thought that he was forgetting something, but the thought passed as inspiration struck.

_THUD! THUD! THUD!_

The Hokage turned and faced the door.

"Wha…uh, yes, come in."

The door opened and in walked Hatake Kakashi, a grim look in his eye.

"Hokage-sama we need to talk."

Sandaime looked back at his painting and added a few more strokes.

"Uh, um yes. Why don't we meet later, after I finish this."

Kakashi's eye narrowed.

"Hokage-sama, I really feel we need to talk about this, _now._ This is about the mission you gave me today."

Sandaime gave Kakashi a puzzled look, but was paying full attention to him now. Kakashi sighed.

"There are Kumo ninja here in Konoha."

Fear flashed into Sandaime's eyes and he immediately stood up. He was halfway to the door when his mind returned once more, and he fully remembered the situation.

"Ah, yes. I apologize Kakashi, thank you for your patience."

Sandaime walked to his desk and took his seat behind it, facing Kakashi, whose eye was no longer narrowed but still grim.

"Go ahead Kakashi, you have my full attention."

Kakashi took a deep breath.

"I met the Kumo ninja, as you requested. As mentioned, there were two genin squads and their jōnin-sensei. The teams were led by Arashi no Nagato and Arashi no Konan."

Sandaime let out a 'hm.'

"Two of their strongest jōnin according to our intel. I imagine their teams will make quite a good showing."

Kakashi's eye narrowed once more.

"That's not all, Hokage-sama."

Sandaime raised one eyebrow. What about these teams bothered Kakashi so much?

"What is it, Kakashi?"

Kakashi took another deep breath.

"All the genin are from the Arashi program, as are their sensei. Nagato's team in particular is quite interesting. They were introduced as Arashi no Sasuke, Arashi no Hinata, and Arashi no Naruto."

Sandaime's eyes narrowed.

"The same names as the three children who vanished five years ago. A peculiar coincidence."

Kakashi nodded.

"Indeed. However, I believe this was no coincidence."

Sandaime stared at Kakashi for a moment.

"Are you sure? You do realize the implications of this?"

Kakashi nodded once more.

"They match their physical descriptions almost perfectly, except that they all have red hair."

Sandaime breathed a sigh of relief.

"Whew, then it can't possibly be them. What a relief."

Kakashi glared at Sandaime for a moment. Sandaime's eyes widened as he realized the sheer folly of what he had just said. It's not like one couldn't just change their hair color after all.

"I mean, uh, continue."

Kakashi took yet another deep breath.

"In addition, their mannerisms match what I knew of them previously."

"Are you sure, Kakashi? Five years is a long time."

Kakashi thought for a moment, then struck a pose pointing at Sandaime.

"Of course! After all, who could forget meeting the next Raikage, dattebayo!"

Sandaime's eyes narrowed. This couldn't be a coincidence. They had the same names as three important children who vanished on the same night five years ago and they matched the description of those kids in both appearance and personality almost perfectly.

"Hm, this is troubling indeed. But why would the Raikage execute such a maneuver? Why would he blatantly provoke us like this?"

Kakashi nodded.

"Indeed, he knows we can't move against them while they're part of the Exams and having them participate as Kumo nin cements them as part of Kumogakure. However, the Raikage would only do so if he felt he already lost the element of surprise, which means…"

Sandaime's eyes narrowed even more.

"Someone's already moved against them."

Sandaime closed his eyes for a moment. _Danzō, what have you done?_

Sandaime opened his eyes and looked back at Kakashi.

"Continue as if they were anyone else. No matter the intentions of the Raikage, we still have to treat it as a potential olive branch. But assign a group of ANBU specifically to watch them on top of the normal ANBU patrols, and let the proctors and ANBU know to step up security and be prepared for potential interference. Someone in Konoha has already taken matters into their own hands, the last thing we need is some sort of incident that Kumo would actually be justified in pursuing. And don't speak of this to anyone, we all know how bad Konoha is at keeping secrets. Dismissed."

-Hotel-The next morning-

Naruto yawned and stretched. While the bed was the most comfortable he had slept in in a while, he couldn't stop thinking about the previous day. The Konoha ninja had been very friendly, especially Tsukiko, though that Sakura girl was scary. The problem was Hinata-chan. She hadn't spoken to him since they met the Konoha teams, and still seemed to be avoiding him. Try as he might, he couldn't stop worrying about it.

'_Did I do something wrong? Is she mad at me for something? Or does she just want to be left alone for a while?'_

Hinata had been his friend as long as he could remember, and he couldn't stand them not being as close as before. Naruto got dressed and walked down to the dining hall for breakfast, where he saw the rest of the team already seated. Hinata looked a little tired, as if she too had a restless night.

Hinata stared at Naruto for a moment. He seemed normal, though a bit more tired than usual. It seemed like he hadn't gotten much sleep. She wanted to talk to him, but something stopped her

Naruto watched Hinata; he could swear she kept glancing at him. He wanted to talk to her, but was terrified. What if he made things worse? What if he ruined one of his few friendships? But he decided this was something he needed to do, he couldn't stand the way things were now. Besides, they were about to embark on a life or death exam, and they needed to be able to trust each other.

As Naruto opened his mouth, a Konoha chūnin with sunglasses and spikey black hair appeared in the doorway.

"Hello shinobi of Kumogakure. My name is Aoba and I'm here to escort you to the Exam!"

Naruto looked at him confused.

"But wait, doesn't the Exam start at four?"

Hinata looked at Naruto and pressed her fingers together.

"Um, N-Naruto-kun, i-it's three already."

Naruto turned and looked at her in shock.

"Whaaaaaatttt? I thought it was morning!"

Everyone just chuckled and shook their heads. The group quickly finished any remaining food and then followed Aoba out of the room.

-Konoha Academy-

Sakura and her team walked up the stairs. There, they saw a large crowd gathered outside a room labeled '301.' Two genin, one with spikey hair and bandages on his face and the other wearing a blue bandana with a Konoha forehead protector built in. In front of them was a kid around Sakura's age or maybe slightly older, wearing a green jumpsuit. He had black hair in a bowl cut and the thickest eyebrows Sakura had ever seen. From the way he was sitting on the ground and rubbing his arm Sakura assumed the two at the door had hit him. The two genin at the door spoke together.

"Listen," said the spikey haired one.

"This is our kindness," the one in a bandana replied.

"The Chūnin Exam isn't easy…even we failed it 3 straight times."

"Those that take the exam and end up quitting as a shinobi, those that die during the exam, we've seen it all."

"And chūnin often become captains of military teams. The failure of the mission, the death of a comrade…that is all the captain's responsibility."

"Yet, kids like you think you can pass?"

"We are just thinning out those that will fail anyway. What's wrong with that?"

Sakura stopped, something felt wrong here. She looked at her teammates. Kōta looked annoyed.

"Man, we came all this way and the door's blocked by these jerks."

Suddenly it hit Sakura, she could feel someone else's chakra in her system. '_A genjutsu! Is this some sort of preliminary test?'_

"It's ok Kōta, I know another way around."

Kōta looked at her confused.

"What do you mean Sakura, there's only one door to that room."

Sakura smirked.

"Of course, except for one thing I noticed a while ago Kōta, we're still on the second floor."

Kōta looked even more confused than ever.

"What do you mean? The sign says it all, that's room 301."

Sakura sighed.

"You want to help me, Tsukiko-chan?"

Tsukiko silently shuffled out from behind Sakura and worked her way through the crowd. She stepped out in front of everyone, facing the two genin. The genin started snickering.

"Awwwww wook at the wittle girl. Did you get wost?"

"Heh heh, go back home to mommy, the Chūnin Exams are no place for little girls."

Tsukiko formed one hand into a half ram sign, and spoke in a soft voice, barely above a whisper.

"Kai (release)…"

Suddenly the air around the sign began to spin, the sign itself swirling. The number three morphed itself into a two, causing a round of gasps around the hall. In addition, the two genin had vanished, standing in their place were two chūnin Sakura recognized at the gate guards, Kotetsu and Izumo. Tsukiko turned around silently and made her way back to Sakura and Kōta as the crowd of genin gasped and started whispering amongst themselves, more than a few looking quite embarrassed at having fallen for such an obvious trick while others pointed at Tsukiko.

Sasuke closed his eyes, smiled, and let out a 'hmpf.'

"Well loser, looks like your little friend's pretty talented at genjutsu. Here I thought I would have to make a scene so you'd get it."

Naruto glared at Sasuke then turned and watched Tsukiko.

"Jerk! I totally knew we were on the second floor. But yea, Tsukiko-chan seems pretty strong. I didn't know she could do genjutsu. Just like you Hinata-chan! Uh, Hinata-chan?"

Hinata had dropped her face again, storm-clouds overhead and mumbling so no one could hear her.

"T-Tsukiko-_chan_?"

Sakura sweat-dropped at all the attention Tsukiko was receiving. '_Um, not exactly what I had in mind Tsukiko. I was just going to release the jutsu on Kōta, not the whole room…'_

Kotetsu shook his head.

"Darn it; guess she's a talented wittle girl. Ruined our fun there."

Izumo also shook his head.

"Indeed, but looks like you guys pass our little preliminary. Go ahead, the room's upstairs for those who didn't notice."

Kōta grinned.

"All right Tsukiko! Good job showing everyone how awesome we are."

Sakura sweat-dropped again.

"Um, that's not exactly a good thing Kōta."

Kōta looked at her curiously.

"Why not Sakura?"

Sakura opened her mouth, thought about it, and then shook her head.

"Never mind, let's just go inside."

Kotetsu and Izumo watched as the genin streamed up the stairs. Izumo spoke first.

"Hehe…so those are Kakashi and Gai's prized pupils, from the looks of things Kakashi wins another competition."

Kotetsu laughed.

"Yea, Kakashi's team definitely passes this first unofficial test. Especially the little one."

Kotetsu paused for a moment.

"Do you think the rumors are true? I heard she's actually…"

Izumo interrupted.

"You know we're not supposed to talk about that."

Kotetsu nodded and then smiled.

"Yeah, right…in any case, this exam's going to be fun…"

Izumo looked serious.

"For us examiners too…"

-Room 301-

Team Fire entered into a large room with everyone else. They looked around for a seat until Hinata spotted Team Water already sitting down. Team Fire made their way through the crowd and sat down next to their teammates. They nodded at each other, but no one spoke a word, not even Naruto. The tension in the room was thick enough to cut with a kunai, and even Naruto realized calling attention to yourself wasn't the best idea at the moment.

Enter the Konoha rookies.

Kakashi's Team 7 entered last, Kōta sporting a new bruise on the bottom of his chin. Everyone turned and stared at them, freezing them in their tracks. However, that would only last a second.

"SAKURAAA!"

"INO!"

Sakura ran over and hugged her best friend, both of them squealing in delight as they hadn't had a chance to catch up recently.

"Geez, could you get any louder? You guys taking this stupid test too? Don't die…" Ino's teammate Shikamaru strolled over, slouching with his hands in his pocket. Next to him stood Chōji, their pleasantly plump teammate who was eating chips. Kōta smiled.

"Hey look, the idiot trio!"

"Sigh, don't call us that…"

"Yahoo! Found you!"

The group was interrupted by Kiba, Akamaru resting on his head.

"Well well, everyone is assembled."

"Hey everyone! Nice to see you, even though we're going to wipe the floor with you later!"

Kiba was flanked by Shino, who stood silently, and Tennokoe Hisako, their confident teammate. Hisako had entered the Academy three years ago when her family had been welcomed into Konoha. They weren't particularly well known, but they did have a unique ability Konoha was interested in. Hisako had long, brown hair and large, gray eyes. She wore a blue bandana with a Konoha forehead protector woven in, a sleeveless leather breastplate with a mahogany top underneath, leather forearm guards, leather boots, and khaki pants. She also had a small shield on her back and short sword at her side.

Kōta smirked.

"Heh, you guys seem pretty confident."

Kiba returned his smirk.

"We did a lot of training, we won't lose to you."

Kōta kept his smirk.

"Ha! Yea right. Besides, no one can beat our Tsukiko, right Tsukiko?"

Tsukiko ignored her teammate, eyes searching through the crowd of sitting ninja. She suddenly stopped, smiled, and took a step forward. Sakura grabbed her shoulder and shook her head, Tsukiko's face flashed incredible disappointment for a moment before she returned to stoically standing by her teammates.

"Pft, she's the smallest one here! As I said, no way we'll lose to you."

An older Konoha genin with white hair and glasses approached the group.

"Hey you guys, you should be more quiet."

The group turned and faced the newcomer.

"You guys are rookies just out of the Academy right? Screaming like school girls….geez….This isn't a picnic."

Ino stared down the older genin.

"Who do you think you are?"

The ninja smirked slightly.

"I'm Kabuto. But instead of that, look behind you."

The group turned around as Sakura spoke.

"Behind?"

Behind the genin was a team of rain ninja, glaring at the rookies.

"Those guys behind you are from Amegakure, they have short tempers. Everyone is nervous about the exam, quiet down before you cause a scene. Well, I can't blame you, you're clueless rookies. You remind me of how I used to be."

Sakura spoke up.

"Kabuto-san…right? So this is your second time."

Kabuto smiled cheerfully.

"Nope…my seventh time. This exam is held twice a year so this is my fourth year."

Sakura looked at him with amazement.

"Wow, so you know a lot about this exam."

"That's right."

Kōta looked excited. He was always curious and this guy could be a gold mine.

"Wow, impressive…"

Kabuto smirked and pulled out a stack of cards.

"Hehe…then I'll share some info with you cute rookies. With these nin-info cards…"

The group looked puzzled.

"Nin-info cards?" Sakura asked.

Kabuto put the cards on the ground.

"They are basically cards which have info burned on to them with chakra. I have four years worth of info here. Over 200 cards…"

Kabuto picked a card and started spinning it with his finger. Ino watched inquisitively.

"What are you doing?"

"You can't view them unless I use my chakra, for example…"

On the spinning card, a map of the continent appeared with bars and numbers over several villages, with numbers by the symbol of each village below the map.

"This is the number of those taking the exam and the breakdown of what country they are from. Wow, even Kumogakure sent two teams this year."

Ino looked confused and somewhat worried.

"Why is Kumo sending teams important, are they strong?"

Kabuto nodded.

"That's one part of it. With its overwhelming economy, Kumo has remained militarized and even built up strength while the rest of the villages are scaling back. They've also built up a lot of manpower with their Arashi adoption program. But more importantly, Kumo and Konoha don't have very good relations. We normally sit out each other's exams. This is the first time Kumo has sent genin teams to Konoha ever, so it's an important moment for Konoha and Kumo's relationship."

Kōta nodded, hanging on Kabuto's every words. So much fascinating information!

"Do you know anything about the Kumo teams?"

Kabuto smirked.

"Of course, the info on all of this exam's participants isn't perfect but I do have it. Even of you guys. Here..."

Kabuto took out six cards and spun each. On each one was a picture of each ninja, their teammates, a description, and their known abilities and completed missions.

"All right the first team, Arashi no Sasuke, Arashi no Hinata, and Arashi no Naruto. Since they're new comers from a foreign country I don't have very much about their abilities, Mission history: a couple D-rank missions, and one C-rank. Nothing particularly special, but they've only been seen outside the village once so it's hard to say. Next we have Arashi no Kimimaro, Arashi no Haku, and Arashi no Tayuya. A couple D-ranks as well, two C-ranks, wow a B-rank too. Nothing on their abilities yet but to have done a B-rank as genin. In addition, all the genin from Kumo are from their Arashi adoption program, the Raikage is probably showing off the effects so I'd expect these to be the best from the program."

The rookies were silent. The first team didn't seem too bad, but a team that already did a B-rank mission? Who were these people? Kōta wasn't done however.

"Cool, how about Rock Lee or Sabaka no Gaara?"

Kabuto pulled out two more cards.

"Ok, first is Rock Lee. He's a year older than you guys. Mission history: 20 D-ranks, 12 C-ranks. His sensei is Gai. His taijutsu has improved greatly in this year, the rest is nothing special. Last year he gained attention as a talented new genin but he did not participate in the exam. Like you guys, this is his first time. On his team are Hyūga Neji, and Ten Ten…"

Kabuto took a breath.

"Next is Sabaka no Gaara. Mission history: 8 C-ranks, 1 B-rank, wow, another genin with a B-rank mission. Like the Kumo genin, I don't have much info on his abilities but…it seems he returned from all his missions without even a scratch."

Even Kōta was silent after that.

"Konoha, Suna, Kumo, Ame, Kusa, Taki, Oto…many outstanding genin from the various villages are here to take the exam. Well…Otogakure is a small village this year so there isn't much info but…the rest of the villages are filled with talented youngsters."

Sakura frowned.

"So basically all the people here…"

Kabuto smiled.

"Yup! Like Lee, Gaara, and the Kumo squads, they are the top elite genin from the various countries. This isn't going to be easy."

While the Konoha rookies gulped, a team from Otogakure watched. One with spiky hair spoke first.

"Hehe..Otogakure is a minor village? Is that so? Let's play with them a little bit…"

His teammate, hunched over and head wrapped in bandages, replied.

"Hehe good idea. Calling us left-overs…Let's help him add to his data…that Oto-nin...can be quite vicious."

With that, the three Oto genin flickered and leapt off, shooting through the crowd. Kabuto heard something, and turned his head toward the crowd. The Oto nin with spiky hair lept into the air at Kabuto and threw two kunai at him. Kabuto leapt back while the Oto nin covered in bandages dashed forward at him. He readied a punch with his right arm that had a large metal plate on it, and took a swing at Kabuto. Kabuto leaned back at the last moment, just moving out of the way of the punch. Kabuto smirked, but his face changed to surprise as his glasses cracked. Kōta watched in shock.

"What's going on? Didn't he dodge it?"

Shikamaru watched closely.

"It probably glanced his nose, that's what you get for acting like a big shot…"

Suddenly, Kabuto leaned over and started puking, holding his stomach. Sakura rushed over to help.

"Kabuto-san! Are you all right?"

"Yeah," Kabuto replied weakly.

All the other ninja turned to face the Oto-team, standing in front of the rookies and Kabuto. The one in bandages spoke first.

"How pathetic, especially because you're a fourth year veteran."

The spiky haired one smirked.

"Write this down in your cards: the three Oto-nin, definitely future chūnin."

From across the room, Sasuke kept his eye on the Oto-nin. He whispered to his team.

"Hinata, were you watching?"

Hinata nodded. As she had since arriving at Konoha, she wore her hood up with sunglasses on, hiding the signs of her now active Byakugan. She couldn't remember ever being anywhere but Kumo, but with the Hyūga clan in Konoha it was best not to flaunt a Byakugan.

"H-He sent some chakra to that device on his arm, and sent some to K-Kabuto-san's ear. I think i-it was sound waves."

As Sasuke and Naruto nodded there was a puff of smoke in the front of the room.

"Quiet down you worthless maggots!"

In the front of the room was a large group of Konoha shinobi. In the front was a large, imposing man wearing a black bandana and trench coat.

"Thanks for waiting…I am Morino Ibiki, the examiner for the Chūnin Selection Exam's first test."

Everyone in the room looked nervous, with several individuals sweating and gulping. Ibiki moved his arm up and pointed.

"Oto guys, stop doing as you please before the exam. Do you want to fail already?"

The bandaged Oto nin replied.

"I apologize…this is our first time…we got a bit carried away…"

Ibiki looked unimpressed.

"Bah…Here's a good opportunity to say this…there will be no fighting without the permission of the examiner. Even if permission is granted, killing your opponent will not be tolerated. Those pigs that disobey me will be failed immediately. Do I make myself clear?"

Everyone was silent in the room. The spiky-haired Oto nin smirked.

"Heh, this exam sounds easy."

The chūnin behind Ibiki chuckled ominously.

"We will now start the first test in the chūnin exam. Instead of your current seating arrangements…"

Ibiki held up a stack of small, numbered tabs.

"You will pick one of these tabs and sit in the seat assigned to you. Then we will hand out the exams."

Kotetsu held up a large stack of papers. Naruto's face fell.

"Oh no...please not a written test."

The Kumo-nin laughed at their comrade's plight.

Hinata watched from across the room as Naruto buried his head in his hands, fingers pressing together.

'_P-Poor Naruto-kun…t-this is the worst possible test for him…he must be depressed…'_

Hinata then saw something that made _her_ depressed.

Naruto's mind was racing, trying to find even a tiny bit of hope. _'Oh man, everyone's separated and I can't ask Hinata-chan for help. What am I going to do?'_

Naruto's thoughts were abruptly interrupted by a hug.

"Onī-chan! You get to sit next to Tsukiko! Yay!"

Naruto turned and faced the little girl.

"Oh! Hey Tsukiko-chan."

Tsukiko smiled at his attention.

"Yay! Onī-chan and Tsukiko are going to pass exam together!"

Naruto chuckled. _'I really hope you're right, Tsukiko-chan.'_

As Kotetsu finished passing out the last exam, Ibiki began to speak again.

"Do not turn your tests over. Listen closely to what I'm about to say. There are many important rules to this first test."

Ibiki picked up a piece of chalk.

"I'll write it on the board while I explain, but questions will not be allowed, so listen carefully."

"Rules?" Sakura pondered to herself. '_No questions allowed…?'_

Ibiki continued.

"The first rule. You guys will start off with ten points. The test is made up of ten questions and each one is worth a point but…this test uses a subtraction system. Basically if you answer all the questions correctly, you keep your ten points. But say if you miss three questions…you lose three points and will have seven. The second rule…this is a team test. Whether you pass or not will be determined by the combined score of your teammates. So, each team will compete to see how many points they can hold on to from the initial team total of thirty."

Sasuke dead-panned. '_Great, we're done…Hinata and I will have to score perfect to even have a chance.'_

Hinata glanced at Naruto and was about to be worried when she saw Tsukiko again and returned to depression.

"The third rule is that during the exam…anyone caught by the testing officers doing sneaky activities, namely cheating, will have two points subtracted for every offense."

Sakura realized something.

"So there will be some who will lose all their points during the exam and be asked to leave.

'_I see…so there are ways to lose points besides answering incorrectly.'_

Kotetsu tapped a clipboard with a pencil.

"We'll have our eyes on you guys…"

There was a round of gulps around the room. Ibiki continued.

"Realize that the pathetic ones that get caught cheating will be destroying themselves. As shinobi trying to achieve the rank of chūnin, be proud ninjas. And the final rule…those that lose all their points during the test and those that don't answer any questions correctly…will be failed along with their two teammates."

Sasuke and Hinata's jaws dropped while Naruto began sweating. _'I can feel the killing intent already…'_

"Onī-chan…why are you all sweaty? We not doing anything…"

Ibiki decided he had held off long enough.

"The exam will last one hour. Ok….BEGIN!"

* * *

><p>Everyone began scribbling on the test immediately. Naruto looked over the test, holding his head.<p>

'_Heh, this is nothing. I've survived dangerous situations, passed tests before. I can't fail here. Calm down, think, just go through the questions and answer the easy ones.'_

* * *

><p>Sakura finished the first question and moved on to the second.<p>

'_Hmm…no. 2. "Line B, seen in the picture, is the greatest possible distance a shinobi can throw his shuriken from a tree of 7 meters. For enemies who appear within the circumference of the shuriken's range, explain the attack options using this distance. Show your work." This is a very complicated question that requires a high amount of both books smarts and experience…almost no one here would be able to answer this…though I can.'_

* * *

><p>Naruto had a look of dread. He had read through the questions, and couldn't answer a single one. '<em>This is bad! Seriously bad!'<em>

* * *

><p>Strangely, Sasuke had the same thought, kind of.<p>

'_What's with this…it's like they assume we'll cheat…what jerks…'_

A female Suna genin suddenly stood up.

"Umm..I'd just like to know one thing…How many teams will pass this test?"

Ibiki chuckled

"It's not like knowing will help you…or do you want to be disqualified?"

The genin sat down with a grunt.

Sasuke thought back to Ibiki's words.

'_Wait a second! I see, so that's it! Darn it, this isn't to measure our intelligence. It's to see how well we can gather information! Hurry up and notice Naruto…'_

* * *

><p>Naruto was panicking at the moment. <em>'All right…calm down. I've passed tests before haha! Just gotta remember how I did…'<em>

Naruto thought back to passed tests. Unfortunately he could only remember two such instances.

'_Dang, first time I just wrote down Octo-san's rhymes instead of answering…Dodai sensei passed me instead of reading it…what did I do on the genin exam?'_

Something suddenly hit Naruto.

'_Wait…I passed by cheating! But they said don't cheat…wait, he said don't get caught cheating! So as long as I don't get caught I won't fail! But wait, how am I going to cheat?'_

* * *

><p>Haku reached down and poked a pouch on her side. Several drips of water dropped onto the ground. Haku formed a single hand sign underneath the table. In the hole containing a light above her, ice formed into several small mirrors. Water moved from the ground under Haku to the ground where Tayuya and Kimimaro sat, forming small mirrors underneath their seats. Kimimaro and Tayuya looked down, and saw perfectly the paper of someone ripping through the test.<p>

* * *

><p>Underneath her glasses and hood, veins grew at Hinata's temples. '<em>Byakugan!'<em> Hinata peered through the person in front of her and began copying his answers, checking his answers with those of several people around her.

* * *

><p>Sasuke closed his eyes, and simultaneously activated the Sharingan and the genjutsu keeping his eyes' appearance normal. <em>'Now…there! Watch and copy that guy's movements.'<em>

* * *

><p>Naruto was holding his head. Which jutsu had Nagato taught him that could help now? If only he could somehow make a Kage Bunshin without someone noticing, wait that's it! Naruto thought back to when Nagato trained him in Kage Bunshin…<p>

-Flashback-Training month with Nagato-

"_All right Naruto, now we're going to train your Kage Bunshin no jutsu."_

_Naruto looked confused._

"_But Nagato-sensei…I already know the Kage Bunshin! Shouldn't I learn other jutsu."_

_Nagato shook his head. "Knowing a jutsu is not enough. You have to master it, be able to use it in any situation. The Kage Bunshin is an incredibly flexible jutsu normally limited by chakra reserves, a limitation you don't have. It's in your best interest to learn how best to exploit the Kage Bunshin because you can in ways no one else can."_

_Naruto nodded but still looked confused._

"_What do you mean Nagato-sensei?"_

_Nagato made the hand-sign for Kage Bunshin. Only, instead of a Nagato clone appearing at his side, ten Naruto clones appeared next to Naruto. Nagato then threw a kunai, and made another hand sign. The kunai multiplied into ten which destroyed Nagato's Naruto clones. Naruto's eyes filled with understanding. '_Wow! There's so many things I could do with this!'

"_See Naruto? You don't just have to make clones of yourself next to yourself. With work, you can learn to control the jutsu. You can learn to create Kage Bunshin already transformed, near or far away in specific locations, with certain personalities, or even Kage Bunshin of other things, such as kunai. The possibilities are limited only by your chakra and imagination."_

-Present-

Naruto made the kage bunshin hand-sign. He knew he couldn't get rid of the smoke cloud yet, but he thought of an idea. A tiny puff of smoke appeared under the table, out walking a tiny spider. The spider crawled up the table and walked over to an exam. Naruto was smirking as the spider began walking past people's tests when…

"Onī-chan look! Tsukiko finished the test!"

Tsukiko ran over and grabbed Naruto, waving her completed test in his face. Naruto looked utterly confused. '_Wha….'_

"Um, that's cool Tsukiko-chan…but aren't you going to get kicked out for yelling and showing me."

Tsukiko looked at him confused.

"But Tsukiko used a genjutsu…"

Naruto sweat-dropped.

"Uhh Tsukiko, there's more than one person in the room."

"…on everyone."

Naruto's mouth dropped. "_Everyone?_"

Tsukiko nodded.

"Everyone! Now Tsukiko gets to talk to onī-chan!"

Tsukiko blinked and looked at Naruto with innocent curiosity.

"Onī-chan, why is your test blank?"

Naruto's face fell.

"Um, I can't do genjutsu Tsukiko."

Tsukiko looked at him strangely, as if he said he couldn't breathe, then happily gave him her exam.

"Here! Onī-chan can use Tsukiko's answers! Then onī-chan gets to pass with Tsukiko!"

Naruto deadpanned, but then accepted his fortune. _'Normally I'd be suspicious…but this is Tsukiko-chan after all…plus she would be failing right now too if she was lying. What the heck, I'll roll with this. I can use my kage bunshin to check the answers afterwards.'_

Naruto got down and began copying Tsukiko's answers while she stood next to him, beaming and proud.

* * *

><p>At the forty-five minute mark Ibiki began to speak again.<p>

"Ok! We will now start the tenth question! Now, before we get to it, I'd like to go over added rules for this question."

A Suna genin in all black who went to the bathroom with a Konoha chūnin re-entered the room.

"Ah, nice timing. Was your doll playing beneficial? Just sit down. I'll explain now…the rules of desperation. First, for this tenth question…you must decide whether you will take it or not."

A blonde haired Suna genin cried out.

"Choose? What happens if we choose not to?"

Ibiki paused for a moment.

"If you choose not to, your points will be reduced to zero and you fail! Along with your two teammates."

Two genin from Takigakure cried out.

"What does that mean?"

"Then of course we decide to take the question!"

Ibiki continued.

"And now…the other rule. If you choose to take it and answer incorrectly…that person will lose the right to take the Chūnin Selection Exam again."

Kiba stood up and pointed at Ibiki, Akamaru barking.

"What kind of a stupid rule is that? There are guys here who have taken the exam before!"

Ibiki began laughing.

"You guys were unlucky. This year it's my rules. But I am giving you a way out. Those that aren't confident can chose not to take it…and try again next year. So basically if one of the three choose not to take it, everyone fails…and if you decide to take it and get it wrong you will be a genin forever. Now let's begin. Those that do not wish to take it, raise your hand. Once your number is confirmed, leave."

Naruto kicked back and relaxed while various genin began raising their hands. He knew how to find the answers and now and besides, he could always just let Tsukiko help him again. Several minutes passed as genin continued to raise their hands, until only half the teams from the start were left. Ibiki grunted.

'_Hmm…stretching this any longer won't make any difference.'_

"Good decisions, now to everyone still remaining…I congratulate you on passing the first test!"

Everyone looked stunned.

"Ha?" Naruto asked.


	7. Chapter 6: A Relaxing Stroll In The Park

Author's Note: Darn...five seconds away from posting and then computer froze. But this chapter went way faster. Finished about a day or two after posting last one, just waited for roommate to proof it. Cause he has a life outside of proofing my fic. Shocking I know. But apparently we're actually humans or something...weird. Anyways yay broke the 20 review point. Hey guys, if this fic breaks the 50 point before I get Star Wars: The Old Republic (pre-ordered so getting it as early as five days before official release) I'll write a chapter and post the next day. BUT THEY HAVE TO BE ACTUAL REVIEWS. Not just the word 'review.' If I know people, they like to find loopholes...so ha pre-emptive strike.

Review Shoutouts:

ddcj1990: Thanks for the encouraging words! As for pairings...well we shall see, but your opinion is noted hahaha.

alchemists19: Thanks! I hope to retain your interest!

JKArcanus: Haha indeed. But like love, jealously knows no bounds. Glad you like Tsukiko, was hoping people would.

Krulk: YES another Genkyouien reader. Love that fic, can't wait for it to update. Thanks for the encouraging words btw.

The Lament Beast: LOL YES. Three of my favorite Thu'um...though OD-AH-VIING is growing on me. Gotta love the dragon being on YOUR side :D. HAHAHA the Nords do seem a bit light on the knee armor don't they? Except for guard captains who from what I hear don't have good chest armor.

harubanana: haha thanks! Hopefully not, but he's Sasuke...but he's not traumatized...we shall see.

**Chapter 6: Just A Relaxing Stroll In The Park**

Seventy-eight genin stared at Ibiki, mouths wide open in shock. Sakura spoke up.

"Wait…What do you mean? We already pass? What about the tenth question?"

Ibiki smiled cheerfully.

"There never was such a thing. Or you could say that those two choices were the tenth question."

Sakura's eyes opened even wider.

"Huh?"

The blonde-haired Suna genin from before looked angry.

"Hey! Then what were the other nine questions for? They were pointless then!"

"They were not pointless…" Ibiki calmly explained. "They had already served their intended purpose."

Temari now looked confused and let out a 'hn?'

Ibiki continued cheerfully.

"To test your individual information gathering ability…that purpose."

Temari still looked confused, but for different reasons now. _'He's suddenly changed personalities…'_

"Information gathering…?"

Ibiki went on.  
>"First, as the rules explained, success on this test is based on the whole team doing well. This put pressure on each member not to mess things up for their teammates."<p>

Naruto nodded.

"I had a feeling this test was like that."

Tsukiko giggled.

"But the questions on this test were not the types a mere genin could answer. Because of that…I'm sure most of the people came to the same conclusion that to score points…I'll have to cheat. Basically, the premise of this test is to cheat. As cheating targets, we had two or so chūnin who knew all the answers mixed into the crowd, to help you guys out."

Naruto chuckled. '_Haha I actually figured it out! Hm, maybe I shouldn't let everyone know how smart I am though…keep the surprise.'_

Sasuke looked at Naruto in surprise. _'Normally he'd have had an outburst by now, did he actually figure it out?'_

Ibiki reached back and started untying his bandana.

"But those who cheat poorly fail, of course."

Ibiki pulled off his bandana. The entire room gasped at the sight of Ibiki's scalp, completely covered in scars and burns.

"Because at times, information is more important than life…and on missions and the battlefield, people risk their lives to get their hands on it."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. '_Horrible burns, screw holes, scars…the after effects of torture…'_

Ibiki retied his bandana and made a serious face.

"If the enemy or a third party notices you…there is no guarantee the info will be accurate. I want you to remember this: Important information in your hands can be a powerful weapon for your comrades and for the village. So we had you gather information through cheating. This clearly separated those that did not have the right abilities."

Temari still looked confused.

"But, I don't understand the final question."

Ibiki smiled.

"Question ten is the true purpose of this test. The "take it or don't" decision. Obviously these were painful choices. Those who choose the latter fail with their teammates. Those who choose to take it could lose the chance to take the test again, a true leap of faith. Now about these two choices. Say you guys become chūnin. Your mission is to steal a secret document. The amount of ninja, their abilities, etc. is unknown to you. And of course, there could be traps set up all around you. Now, do you accept, or not? Because you don't want to die or see your comrades hurt, can you avoid this dangerous mission?"

Ibiki leaned forward a bit, still smiling but with a slightly more serious look in his eye.

"The answer is no! No matter what the danger, there are missions you can't avoid. The ability to be courageous and survive any hardship…that is the ability needed to become a chūnin captain. Those who can't put their destinies on the line, who cling to the uncertain future of 'there's always next year' and then walk away from their chance…those pieces of trash who can only make such cowardly choices don't have the right to become chūnin! That's how I feel! Those who chose to take it answered the tenth question correctly. You will be able to survive any troubles you face in the future. You made it through the entrance; the first test of the Chūnin Selection Exam is now finished. I wish you guys luck."

Ibiki suddenly glanced to the side. A spinning, dark mass smashed through the window and shot into the room. Two kunai connected to the mass shot out, embedding themselves in the ceiling above Ibiki. Ibiki sighed and smiled. _'Geez, not this one…'_

Naruto, along with everyone else in the room, stared with massive, shocked eyes.

"What's this?"

The two kunai lifted up a massive, black banner with the words "Second Examiner" on the top and a name that couldn't be read, because standing in front was a woman in her early twenties. She had light brown, pupil-less eyes, violet hair in a short, spiky ponytail, a Konoha forehead protector, and a small pendant that looked like a snake fang around her neck. She wore a tan overcoat over a fitted mesh body suit with a dark orange mini-skirt.

"You guys! This is no time to be celebrating! I am the examiner for the second test, Mitarashi Anko! Now let's GO!"

She raised her right arm into the air.

"Follow me!"

The entire room just stared silently. Ibiki leaned out from behind Anko's banner.

"Bad timing…"

Anko turned and looked at Ibiki.

"78…? Ibiki! You left 26 teams? The test was too easy this time!"

Ibiki smiled as he looked at Anko.

"There are a lot of talented ones this time."

Anko looked back at the stunned genin.

"Bah, that's fine…I'll cut them in half at least in the second exam."

Sakura looked worried.

'_Cut us? At least in half?'_

Anko made a devious face.

"Ahhh…I'm getting excited. I'll explain everything once we've changed location, follow me."

* * *

><p>Anko led the group out of the village, stopping in front of a large, fenced off forest. The trees here were massive, much larger than the normal trees around Konoha. In front of the fence was a small booth with three Konoha shinobi sitting behind it. All along the fence were signs saying "Danger! Stay out!" A few of the seventy-eight genin left gulped.<p>

"Welcome to the stage for the second test, Practice Area 44. Also known as…'The Forest of Death!'"

Sakura gulped.

"This place looks creepy."

Anko smiled mischievously at the genin.

"You'll soon find out why it's called the 'Forest of Death.'"

Kiba pointed at Anko.

"You think that scares us? Akamaru and I can handle anything, no problem!"

Anko smiled with her eyes closed.

"Yeah, you're spirited."

Suddenly a kunai appeared in Anko's hand, a moment later embedding itself in the ground behind Kiba. Anko herself appeared behind Kiba, holding him while licking blood from a scratch on his cheek.

"Kids like you are quickly killed…hehehe…"

A certain grass ninja watched the exchange, a disturbing look in his eyes. _'Kukuku, this is exciting. Too bad Konoha's on high alert for some reason, or I might have some fun with dear old Anko now. Not that their 'caution' would help them in the slightest.'_

Everyone just stared as Anko let go of Kiba and retrieved her kunai.

"Hehehe this should be fun. Now before we start the second test, there's something I have to pass out."

Anko reached into her trench-coat and pulled out a stack of papers.

"You must sign these waiver forms."

Everyone looked confused, especially Naruto.

"What?"

Anko smiled cheerfully.

"There will be deaths in this one…and if you don't sign these it will all be my responsibility, hehe. I'm going to explain the second test, then you can sign it afterwards. After that, each team will check in at that booth behind me."

Anko handed the stack of papers to Kiba, the closest genin to her.

"Ok! I will now explain the second test. Simply put, you will attempt the ultimate survival challenge. First, I'll explain the area in which it will take place. Around Practice Area No. 44 are forty-four locked gates. There is a forest bisected by a river and a tower in the center; from the gates to the tower is about ten kilometers. During the challenge you will be asked to complete a certain task. Using your many weapons and jutsu, you will compete in a no-rules scroll battle."

Anko held a white scroll with the character for 'heaven' on it in front of her face. One genin spoke up from the crowd.

"Scroll?"

Anko held the white scroll in her right hand while a black scroll with the character for 'earth' appeared in her left.

"Yes, you will fight over two scrolls, the 'heaven' and 'earth' scrolls. There are seventy-eight people here meaning twenty-six teams. Half, thirteen, will get the 'heaven' scroll. The other thirteen teams will each get the 'earth' scroll. To pass this test…"

Anko held both scrolls in one hand in front of her face.

"Your team must make it to the tower with _both_ scrolls."

Sakura's eyes narrowed as she did some quick math.

"So, thirteen teams will lose their scrolls…half the teams will definitely fail."

Anko continued.

"But, there's a time limit. The second test will last one hundred and twenty hours, exactly five days."

Team 10 looked horrified and shocked.

"Five Days?" Ino cried out.

Chōji's eyes widened as he realized the implications.

"What about dinner?"

Sort of.

Anko closed her eyes and shook her head.

"You're on your own. The forest is full of food. Just watch out for man-eating beasts, poisonous insects, poisonous plants…"

Chōji looked down, resigned to his fate.

"Oh! And thirteen teams passing is unlikely. As the days go on, the distance to the goal will become farther and the time to rest will become shorter. Not to mention the area is crawling with enemies; you won't get much sleep. So not only will some fail by losing the scroll, some will die from the harshness of the course."

Anko smiled cheerfully and held up a hand.

"Now, I'll talk about what will disqualify you. First, those that don't make it to the tower with both scrolls and within the time limit. Second, those who lose a teammate or those who have a teammate killed. As a rule, there is no quitting in the middle; you will be in the forest for five days. And one more rule: you must not look inside the scroll until you make it to the tower."

Kōta looked curious.

"What happens if you do?"

Anko lifted one finger to her mouth.

"That will be a surprise for anyone who does."

Sakura smacked Kōta over the head when his face grew even more curious.

"A chūnin will be asked to handle classified information; this is to test your trustworthiness. That is it for the explanations. Exchange the three forms for your scroll, then choose a gate to get ready for the start. A final word of advice: Don't die!"

The booth had had a black curtain drawn across it during Anko's explanation. The curtain rustled and a chūnin stepped out from behind.

"It's about time to exchange for the scrolls."

The teams lined up and each walked into the booth, one at a time. Sasuke glanced at his teammates as his team headed for the booth.

"Hinata?"

Hinata nodded. The team stepped behind the curtain.

"Forms please."

Naruto and Hinata passed Sasuke their forms, who handed them to the chūnin. The chūnin handed them a white 'heaven' scroll in return.

"Thank you, please head to Gate 12."

Team Fire bowed and followed an instructor towards the gate. They were silent as the instructor unlocked the gate and stood by it, staring at his watch. Suddenly the instructor threw the gate open and yelled 'Go!' Team Fire shot through the gate and up onto the trees. Once they were out of sight of the gate, Sasuke turned to Hinata.

"Well Hinata?"

Hinata nodded and pressed her fingers together.

"A t-team with the 'earth' scroll was assigned to Gate 11. None of them have h-higher chakra than we do, so we m-might be able to beat them…"

Sasuke nodded. While Sasuke was the nominal leader of the team, he and Naruto normally acted more like partners. Naruto had been strangely quiet and willing to follow his lead today. Sasuke noticed him glance worriedly at Hinata.

'_Hm, some sort of problem between them? Darn it Naruto, now's not the time for drama! We need you at one-hundred percent for this!'_

"We'll head after that team then. Once we get the scroll, we'll travel straight for the tower. Even in a hostile environment ten kilometers isn't that far, we should be able to finish this on the first day if we do it right. Everyone clear?"

Sasuke watched as his two teammates nodded.

Sasuke grunted and closed his eyes.

"Let's go."

* * *

><p>Team 8 stood in the middle of a clearing. Kiba looked at their female teammate.<p>

"Well Hisako?"

Hisako closed her eyes and formed a half ram sign with one hand.

"There's one team headed this way. There's also a large group of leeches between us and them."

Kiba chuckled.

"Shino?"

Shino simply nodded.

* * *

><p>Anko heard a bloodcurdling scream and chuckled.<p>

"Sounds like it's started."

Anko narrowed her eyes and turned as an ANBU leapt in front of her.

"Big trouble, Anko-sama! Three bodies…you better come see this."

Anko narrowed her eyes and leapt after the ANBU.

* * *

><p>A group of Konoha genin landed on a branch at the edge of a clearing. They looked down at a team in the middle of the clearing. There were two girls and one boy, one of the girls significantly younger than the other two. The lead Konoha genin smirked.<p>

"What luck! Not only one of the rookie teams but the one babysitting during the exam! Looks like this is our lucky day guys!"

The group in the trees leapt towards the group in the clearing, kunai ready. However, as they got closer, the three genin in the clearing exploded into a mass of branches and cherry blossom petals, which surrounded and immobilized two of the attackers. The leader managed to jump back in time to avoid the branches, only to feel a hand grab his ankle.

"Doton: Shinjū Zanshu no Jutsu (Earth Style: Headhunter Technique)!"

Kōta crouched in front of the now buried Konoha genin, tossing the 'earth scroll' he took from the genin's kunai pouch while smirking.

"Heh heh good job Sakura and Tsukiko. Looks like this exam will be a piece of cake."

Sakura and Tsukiko stepped out from the bushes, each holding a ram handsign.

"Would you quit playing around Kōta? My genjutsu doesn't last forever."

Tsukiko formed a few more handsigns. Both of the Konoha genin trapped in genjutsu suddenly screamed and fell over, unconscious. Sakura sweat-dropped.

"Uhhh, thanks Tsukiko?"

Tsukiko nodded silently while Kōta smiled cheerfully at Sakura.

"See Sakura? You worry too much! Now, let's try to find some other teams, see if we can't scope them out before the next exam."

Sakura sweat-dropped as Kōta leapt off and turned to Tsukiko.

"Mugyuu…."

Tsukiko leapt after Kōta, leaving Sakura sighing and shaking her head to herself before leaping off after her team.

* * *

><p>A group of Ame ninja with re-breathers rushed through the forest, intent on some goal.<p>

"All right, if we calculated this right, another team should be arriving here soon. We'll split up and lay traps around the…wait, do you hear that?"

The ninja looked around as they heard the sounds of a flute being played. Suddenly they cried out as they found their bodies impaled on a bunch of stakes, and their arms began melting away. Three senbon shot from the bushes below, ending their misery via highly precise targeting of their pressure points.

Team Water exited their cover and walked over to the group.

"Good work Tayuya-chan, Haku-chan. Let's grab their scrolls and go."

* * *

><p>A group of Taki nin landed at the edge of another clearing.<p>

"Hey look, it's one of those Kumo teams."

One of them chuckled.

"Look at them, barely out of the academy I'll bet. They probably have no idea what to do."

The leader smirked.

"Right, we'll take them out, grab their scroll, and head to the tower."

As the ninja prepared to attack, they heard a voice from behind.

"Oh, really now?"

The ninja turned to see a chokutō, a kodachi, and a cleaver held at their necks. The leader glanced back down at the clearing and saw one of the ninja wave at him before all three disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Good work, Hinata, loser. Now, which one of you has the scroll?"

Sasuke deactivated the genjutsu over his eyes, letting the leader peer into his Sharingan.

* * *

><p>A grass ninja, who is obviously not Orochimaru in disguise, stood over the bodies of four Konoha ninja, dressed in ANBU gear with masks that had the character for "root" on them.<p>

"Kukuku, my, my Danzō it seems your information network is better than I imagined. But why, I wonder, go through all the trouble only to send such weak underlings after me? You should've known this group could barely handle a competent jōnin, let alone someone like me."

Not-Orochimaru turned his head.

"Kukuku a little genin team up ahead. Well, if Root could get through seems like dear old Anko isn't watching too closely. Looks like I'll have time to play."

* * *

><p>Sasuke, Naruto, and Hinata sped towards the center of the area at full speed. It took them less than half an hour to obtain the needed scroll; forgoing running into any teams, which was unlikely if they took a direct path at full speed, they should finish the exam in record time. That was, until Hinata suddenly gasped as she activated her Byakugan at the regular intervals established for missions. Sasuke looked back at her.<p>

"What is it Hinata?"

Hinata seemed worried.

"T-There's s-someone heading t-toward us."

Sasuke frowned. Hinata was stammering even more than usual, and Sasuke could've sworn she was trembling.

"H-His chakra…it's a-almost as strong as N-Nagato-sensei's."

Sasuke's eyes widened. _'Someone almost as strong as Nagato? How was that even possible?'_

Sasuke gulped.

"Can we avoid him?"

Hinata shook her head slowly.

"H-He continues to head t-toward us…l-like he's t-tracking us."

Sasuke gritted his teeth.

"Darn, we can't fight someone Nagato's level…"

Even Naruto looked worried.

"What are we going to do, Sasuke?"

Sasuke shook his head.

"If he's reasonable, we give him whatever scroll he wants and hope he doesn't want to waste time fighting us. If he's not, you and I hit him with any and every jutsu we can and look for a moment to escape. Hinata, stay out of the battle as best you can. I have a feeling we'll need your medic-jutsu after this…"

Team Fire gulped, and they leapt off into the distance, eyes open.

* * *

><p>Not-Orochimaru watched as the three genin approached.<p>

"Kukuku it's one of the Kumo teams…the Raikage will be so disappointed to hear about their deaths."

Not-Orochimaru bit his finger, performed some hand signs, and placed his palm on the ground.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu (Summoning Jutsu)!"

A giant snake appeared next to not-Orochimaru and launched itself at the three genin. Two of the genin leapt above the snake, landing on a branch in front of not-Orochimaru while the third tried to hide herself.

"Kukuku…"

Not-Orochimaru released a fraction of his killing intent, stunning the two boys in front of him.

"Shall we begin the battle for each other's scrolls now boys? Or will you scurry off like your little teammate?"

Not-Orochimaru pulled out a kunai, as the two boys trembled.

"Hehe, you can no longer move."

Not-Orochimaru lazily tossed two kunai at the two genin. One of the genin stabbed his leg with his own kunai, then grabbed his teammate and leapt out of the way.

'_Kukuku…to injure his own body to erase the feeling of fear with pain…hehe this is no ordinary prey._'

Naruto sat trembling as he watched Sasuke look out from behind the tree.

"Snap out of it Naruto, I can't handle this guy alone! If we're going to survive, I need you!"

Sasuke unsheathed his chokutō and slashed at a snake that was about to bite Naruto. Sasuke looked at Naruto, but Naruto still didn't react. Sasuke closed his eyes, and reached into his pocket.

"Fine, you know what. Find Hinata, and then get out of here."

Sasuke opened his eyes, revealing his Sharingan for a moment before activating the genjutsu over them, then pulled out five kunai, one in his mouth and four in his right hand, with a large shuriken in his left.

"I'll do whatever it takes to protect my comrades, even a scaredy-cat like you."

Sasuke jumped out from the tree, launching the kunai at his opponent. The enemy ninja bent his body around the kunai, almost like a snake. Sasuke grabbed a nearby tree and swung around, throwing the shuriken along the path the enemy shinobi was flying. He then reached into his mouth, grabbing the kunai which had a small metal wire attached to it, and launched it. His opponent leaned his head to the side, smirking.

'_Kukuku…not bad…it's as if he can read my movements…as if…'_

His thoughts were cut off as he watched Sasuke lean back against the tree with two wires, one in his mouth and the other in his hand. The shinobi turned around to see the shuriken and kunai pulled back towards him.

'_String? This…this is like the Sharingan Windmill Triple Blade! How can this brat do it?'_

However, the shinobi was able to catch the shuriken in his mouth and dodge the kunai.

"Heh, too bad."

'_Still, to read all the places I could run and attack from where I couldn't see…only one clan is able to do this at such a young age…'_

Sasuke smirked and formed a rat handsign. "Bah, Raiton: Kagekiha (Lightning Style: Emotion Wave)!"

Lightning shot out from Sasuke's hands onto the wire, and surged towards the shinobi. The shinobi's body trembled as electricity surged through it.

"Kukuku…truly you are no normal prey. You face me alone to allow your teammates to escape, brave but foolish boy. Do you truly believe you have a chance?"

The shinobi looked up, his face burned and scarred but otherwise seemingly unaffected by the jutsu.

Sasuke smirked.

'_As I thought, didn't even touch him. His chakra levels, his jutsu, his snake-like movements…only one person fits that description…'_

"As a shinobi of Kumogakure, I'll do anything for my comrades. And I have no illusions of winning or even surviving this fight, Orochimaru of the Sannin. But I'll do whatever it takes to give my friends a chance."

'_Come on Naruto, get out of here.'_

Orochimaru chuckled.

"Kukuku…smart little brat. Smarter than half this village to figure out my identity like that. And not un-talented either. But what about your teammates?"

Orochimaru disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Sasuke panicked and spun around towards the direction of Naruto and Hinata. _'A Kage Bunshin? Darn it!'_

Sasuke saw Orochimaru leap towards where Hinata was hiding. _'Darn it! There's no way I can get there in time.'_

Orochimaru lazily tossed a kunai at Hinata. _'Kukuku…she can't even see it coming.'_

To his surprise, Hinata quickly jumped out of the path of the slow kunai and spun around, throwing a handful of shuriken at Orochimaru. Orochimaru blocked the shuriken and released a blast of killing intent, freezing the poor girl.

'_Kukuku, interesting. It's like she has eyes on the back of her head.'_

"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu (Fire Style: Grand Fireball)!"

Orochimaru calmly watched the ball of flame race towards him.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu (Summoning Technique)!"

Orochimaru summoned a giant snake which the fireball harmlessly dissipated over, and then sent the giant snake after Sasuke.

'_Darn it! I can't avoid it in the air. Sorry Naruto, Hinata, Nagato-sensei…looks like this is the end for us…'_

"Kukuku, nice tries, fighting, hiding, and running like prey should. But it's not enough to stop this predator…"

Orochimaru raced towards the frozen Hinata. Suddenly he felt a blast of chilling evil chakra.

"**HINATA**!"

Orochimaru gasped as a giant fist made of red chakra burning with hate slammed into him and sent him flying into a nearby tree. Sasuke also gasped as another hand of chakra grabbed him, pulling him out of the way of the giant snake.

'_It's about time Naruto! But what is this chakra? It's evil…and burns like fire! Can this really be Naruto?'_

The hand pulled Sasuke and dropped him next to Hinata, behind Naruto. There stood Naruto, covered in a fox-shaped cloak of bubbling red chakra. His eyes had turned red, his whisker marks more pronounced, and he now had claws and fangs.

"**I won't let you hurt Hinata-chan! Or Sasuke!**"

The chakra was enough to overpower the killing intent and snap Hinata out of her trance. She spoke in barely a whisper.

"N-Naruto-kun…"

Sasuke shook his head, trying to rid himself of the fear of both his opponent and his teammate.

"Forget it Naruto! We're facing Orochimaru from the Sannin! I hit him with a jutsu and he barely flinched! I doubt even your attack phased him!"

"Kukuku…you're correct."

The dust from the wrecked tree cleared to reveal Orochimaru standing in a hole in the tree Naruto had smashed him into. His face seemed like it was peeling off, but otherwise he didn't seem worried or injured. Both Naruto and Sasuke grit their teeth.

"Naruto, listen! We can't win this fight! If Nagato taught you anything that can get us out of here, use it now!"

Naruto nodded slowly, trying to suppress the urge to attack Orochimaru. _'Dang, this bij__ū__ chakra is still hard to control. Well, I heal too fast in this mode.'_ Naruto released the bijū cloak, and the bubbling chakra vanished although an aura of fiery, red chakra surrounded Naruto and he retained his fox-like traits. Naruto bit his finger, formed some hand signs, and placed his palm on the ground.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu (Summoning Technique)!"

A giant chameleon with a snake for a tail and concentric circles in its eyes appeared. It opened its mouth, and Naruto grabbed Sasuke and Hinata then leapt inside. The chameleon closed its mouth, then vanished.

"Kukuku…this is just too hilarious. A boy who can read my movements and is the splitting image of his brother? A girl with eyes in the back of her head? And the Kyūbi brat? Raikage-sama, I envy your audacity, sending them here. I think I'll even let them go, just for the slap in the face to the old man. Kukuku…you three better make it to the finals, now, I believe I have other business to attend to…"

-Kumo Teams' Hotel-

Konan paced in the hotel room while Nagato rested on a couch.

"Calm down Konan, I'm sure your team will do fine."

Konan turned to Nagato and sighed.

"I know Nagato…I believe in them, but I can't help but worry. What about you? I'd think you'd be twice as worried."

Nagato continued to focus on something.

"Indeed, that's why I sent a squirrel summon. If anything happens I'll intervene."

Konan shook her head.

"I should've known you'd have something up your sleeves, how is your team doing?"

Nagato looked up at Konan, his mouth curling into a slight smile.

"They just survived an encounter with Orochimaru."

Konan gasped and took a step back.

"Nagato! You let your team fight _Orochimaru?_ What was the point of even watching them then?"

Nagato held his smile.

"Orochimaru obviously wasn't serious about the fight and was somewhat surprised at their abilities; I don't think he knew who they were. Had he been serious about killing them, I would've stepped in. Besides, the point of this all is for them to experience real combat, fighting someone infinitely stronger than them is exactly what they are going to face in the future. As long as Orochimaru wasn't truly trying to kill them, it was a good opportunity to see how far they've come."

Konan shook her head.

"Still, that was too risky Nagato. What if Orochimaru had gotten serious before you had been able to respond?"

Nagato nodded. "It was a leap of faith, both in my reading of Orochimaru and in my team. But it paid off in the end. Besides, if I'm sensing this right, a group of Konoha ANBU is actually en route. My team needed only to survive for a while, and I had faith that they could do it."

Konan shook her head. "Sigh, Nagato that's good to hear in this case, but sometimes I can't help but feel your faith might be the death of you."

Nagato smiled cheerfully. "Better a dead fool full of faith than a shinobi who's lost his purpose. More importantly though, we need to keep our eyes open. I have a feeling Orochimaru's up to more than scouting out the new genin…"

* * *

><p>-Forest of Death-<p>

Team Fire stepped out of the chameleon's mouth, which then vanished in a puff of smoke.

"About time loser, being the meatshield for you was getting tough."

Naruto half glared at Sasuke but his heart wasn't in it. Sasuke put a hand on his shoulder.

"But hey, Naruto, good work back there. We'd all be dead right now if it weren't for you."

Naruto looked at Sasuke in surprise.

"I'm sorry about what I said earlier, but I needed you to snap out of it. We may hate each other when we're alone, but there's no one more reliable than you, loser."

Naruto smiled, this time genuinely, and rubbed the back of his head.

"Wow, um thanks Sasuke. Sorry you had to cover for me back there and thanks for bringing me to my senses."

Sasuke closed his eyes and waved him off.

"Whatever, I'll always be here when you need a good insulting. Now go get us some food or something, you didn't do your job as the meatshield so now you get to find the supplies."

Naruto glared at Sasuke and shook his fist.

"You jerk!"

But, still embarrassed about freezing up in the last battle, Naruto obediently turned and left.

Sasuke watched as Naruto walked away.

"You know, we played up my insults, but it wasn't until you were in danger that Naruto snapped out of it. That should tell you where you fit in Naruto's priorities. If his complete withdrawal due to you not talking to him much didn't already. You're my comrade and my friend Hinata, but we need Naruto more than ever right now, and right now he just wants his best friend back and whatever this is about it's not helping. Figure out your problems later; I can't let you drag down Naruto."

With that, Sasuke walked to the edge of the clearing.

"Hey loser, you're taking too long. Get back here, I'll do it. Useless…."

Sasuke walked away as Naruto came back glaring. Hinata looked up at Naruto. Sasuke was right. Naruto had snapped to protect _her,_ and she hadn't been treating him well. What kind of a friend was she?

"H-Hi Naruto-kun, t-thank you for saving me."

Naruto grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head.

"Oh, sure thing Hinata-chan. That's what friends do, right?"

Hinata nodded, then looked down and pressed her fingers together. Why was this so hard?

"I-I'm sorry I h-haven't been as friendly, Naruto-kun. I..uh…um…"

Hinata felt her face heating up as Naruto watched her intently.

"Uh…w-wasn't feeling well, t-that's all. T-Thank you for p-putting up with me…" Hinata closed her eyes and prayed he wouldn't hate her now. To her surprise, Naruto smiled and looked relieved.

"Oh whew, I was worried I had hurt you somehow Hinata. Are you ok? I'm a little worried about you now, but I'm really glad we're still friends!"

Hinata watched Naruto smile and felt color rush to her face. _'I-I'm so dumb…N-Naruto-kun's been my best friend for years. Why would a little eight-year old girl he just met change that?'_

* * *

><p>"Achoo!"<p>

Sakura looked at her teammate with concern.

"Are you ok Tsukiko-chan?"

Tsukiko looked back at her.

"Mugyuu…" as if that explained everything. Sakura dead-panned. _'What on earth does 'mugyuu' mean and why has Tsukiko-chan started using it? It was bad enough that she only spoke a few words without them being incomprehensible!'_

* * *

><p>Sasuke walked out from behind a tree.<p>

"Right, now that that's dealt with, can we get to the tower? We're taking so long that Nagato will send us to Bee-sama for conditioning…"

The team shuddered at the thought and leapt off towards the center.

* * *

><p>Kōta suddenly stopped and motioned for Sakura and Tsukiko to come closer.<p>

"Do you guys see that?"

Sakura looked around.

"See what Kōta?"

Kōta pointed.

"In that clearing, two teams are about to fight. Let's check it out."

Sakura reached for him.

"Kōta, wait!"

However, Kōta's curiousity got the best of him and he had already left. Tsukiko shrugged and followed, leaving Sakura to sigh alone once more. Sakura caught up to Kōta and Tsukiko, hiding in a bush on the edge of a clearing. In the middle of the clearing, a squad of large genin from Amegakure faced a group of much younger Suna genin. Tsukiko suddenly started shaking.

"What's wrong, Tsukiko-chan?"

Tsukiko pointed towards the shortest Suna genin who was standing in front. She spoke in barely a whisper.

"Bijū…"

Sakura looked at her confused. _'Tailed beast? What does she mean by that? Does she mean he's some sort of monster?'_ Sakura turned her attention back to the two teams about to fight.

"Suna brat…challenging us head on like this…"

The head Ame ninja took over.

"How foolish…you'll die."

The small Suna ninja's face didn't change.

"Enough talking. Let's do it, old man from Amegakure."

The Ame ninja's eye twitched. The Suna genin in all black spoke up.

"Gaara! It's best to get some information first. If we both have the same scroll, then there's no need to fight. Pointless fighting is…"

Gaara interrupted.

"That doesn't matter. Those who meet my eyes, all must die."

The Ame ninja pulled out several umbrellas from his back.

"Bah…then let's hurry up and do it! Here I come!"

The ninja tossed his umbrellas into the air, which began floating and spinning. The ninja formed a tiger hand sign.

"Die Brat! Ninpō: Jōro Senbon (Ninja Art: Needle Rainstorm)!"

Team 7 watched with wide eyes as needles shot out from the spinning umbrellas, forming a hail of needles.

"Flying needles?" Kōta asked.

The needles spun around and flew towards Gaara from all directions.

"Ha, there's no escape from this jutsu! Plus all the needles are controlled by my chakra to strike their prey!"

The Ame ninja smirked as the needles crashed where Gaara was standing, creating a cloud of dust from the impact. His smirk vanished though as the dust cleared.

"Hn…what is that?"

The needles stuck out of a cocoon of sand surrounding Gaara, who stood unmoving and completely unharmed.

"No way…not a single one? He came out unscathed? Impossible…"

The Ame ninja frowned and formed a hand sign. More needles rained down towards a hole in the cocoon, but sand moved and blocked the opening.

"A rain of needles eh? Then I guess I'll make it rain _blood_."

The Ame ninja looked worried.

"Ugh, a wall of sand?"

Gaara's teammate in black spoke up.

"Yes, sand based total defense! The sand is packed into the gourd with chakra; it protects his body and the surrounding area. A jutsu possible only for Gaara; plus it happens regardless of Gaara's will. For some reason, it takes place automatically. Basically, against Gaara, all attacks are useless."

The Ame ninja frowned.

"That's not possible, those needles have the power to pierce five millimeters of steel! Darn it!"

Gaara's teammate listened, unimpressed.

"You cannot defeat our Gaara."

The Ame ninja charged at the Suna genin.

"Shut up!"

Gaara formed a triangle with his hands, then stuck his right palm out at the Ame ninja while forming a half ram sign with his left.

"Sabaku Kyū (Sand Coffin)."

Suddenly hands of sand shot up and grabbed the Ame ninja's leg, then wrapped up around his body. In moments, the ninja was completely encased in sand except for his face, and lifted into the air.

"Ugh…I can't move…"

Team 7 and the other Ame genin watched in shock. Gaara's blond, female teammate explained.

"The sand in the air or on the ground can be controlled by Gaara's will."

The Ame ninja grit his teeth and tried to break free.

"This is…guh…ugh…"

Gaara picked up one of the umbrellas which had fallen from the sky using his left hand, keeping his right hand pointed at the ninja palm open.

"Shut up, I can cover your mouth and kill you but…"

Gaara opened the umbrella.

"That's just too pitiful."

Gaara raised the umbrella above his head and suddenly clenched his right hand into a fist.

"Sabaku Sōsō (Sand Burial)!"

Suddenly the sand surrounding the ninja imploded, and the ninja disappeared into an explosion of blood and sand. Blood rained from the sky, drenching the dead ninja's comrades while Gaara stood calmly in the rain of blood, umbrella overhead.

"No suffering because I killed him so quickly he didn't have time to experience it. The blood mixes with the flowing sand and grants more power to its killer."

One of the remaining Ame genin, now trembling, placed a 'Heaven' scroll on the ground.

"We…we'll give you the scroll. Please…let us go…"

Gaara stuck out both hands, palms out. The Ame ninja began screaming as they were covered in Sand. Gaara's female teammate smiled cheerfully and waved.

"Bye bye!"

The last thing the crying genin saw was Gaara's hands clench into fists.

Team 7 spun around. Kōta voiced their thoughts.

"Oh no! Let's get out of here! If they find us…"

Gaara turned to the bushes where Team 7 was hiding. He seemed to be staring in Tsukiko's direction.

"Mugyuu…"

Tsukiko grabbed Sakura and Kōta and vanished. A small trail of sand which had been inching towards them dropped to the ground lifeless…

Team 7 leaned against some trees, panting heavily.

"T-Thanks Tsukiko…if you hadn't gotten us out of there…"

Tsukiko shook her head. Kōta did as well, trying to get those thoughts out of his head. Sakura turned to her little teammate.

"Tsukiko-chan…what did you mean by bijū?"

Tsukiko held herself and trembled slightly, once again speaking so softly Sakura had to strain to hear.

"Demon…"

* * *

><p>Neji stood with his two teammates, Rock Lee and Tenten, arms crossed.<p>

"All right, let's split up and gather food and water as planned. If you meet the enemy, run away, we meet back here in thirty minutes. Got that?"

Tenten smiled and nodded.

"Ok!"

Lee saluted.

"Roger!"

Neji smirked. "All right, go!"

Neji watched as Lee and Tenten shot off into the forest, then activated his Byakugan.

"You can come out now, I know you're there."

Orochimaru stepped out from behind a tree.

"Kukuku, as talented with the Byakugan as they say, Neji-kun. But tell me, why send your teammates away when you knew I was here?"

Neji turned around and faced his opponent. His arms remained crossed, and he made no move to attack. He deactivated his Byakugan, hoping his opponent would accept his truce.

"Your chakra is larger than anyone in the village except Hokage-sama's and you approached us without Lee or Ten Ten or even myself, without the aid of the Byakugan, noticing. You are obviously not a genin and are obviously strong enough to kill us all if you chose to. Had Lee been here, he would not have understood the situation and would have tried to engage, thus we would end up dead. Alone, I can at least find out why you're bothering with us, and try to avoid a hopeless fight."

Orochimaru smiled.

"Kukuku, you're as smart as they say, Neji-kun. It's truly heart-breaking to see such talent locked away in the destiny and traditions of the Hyūga clan. But what if, Neji-kun, there was someone who was strong enough to break free of destiny and tradition and to roam the world however they pleased? Would such power interest you?"

Neji closed his eyes.

"Such power does not exist. We are all trapped in our destinies and we cannot change what we are or what we will become. Thus is the way of life."

Neji suddenly screamed as Orochimaru bit into his shoulder, his neck stretched out from his body.

"Kukuku…that is because you don't know _true_ power Neji-kun. I've left you a little going-away present. If that small taste interests you, seek me out. I will quench your thirst, and show you how to break your cage and forge your own destiny."

Orochimaru slid back into the shadows as Neji fell to the ground, intense pain coursing through his body. The pain was worse than any he felt, including that of the caged bird seal. Yet, underneath all that pain, Neji sensed incredible power, as if the pain was but a taste of what he could accomplish if he accepted this gift. With that final thought, Neji fell into black.

Orochimaru walked away, satisfied at the day's events. _'Kukuku…we'll see if you have the strength to survive, Neji-kun. Another kekkei genkai is always welcome among my followers. Now, one last thing to do it seems…'_

* * *

><p>"Kukuku…no need to be shy Anko. Even though we haven't seen each other in a while, we were once so close, close enough that we need not hide from each other."<p>

Anko landed in front of Orochimaru.

"You won't escape this time, Orochimaru. If need be, I'll give my life to stop you or if that's not possible, slow you down long enough for ANBU to reach here."

Orochimaru laughed.

"Please Anko, you insult me. I already know about the ANBU surrounding us. You'd need at least twice as many to stop me…kukuku."

Anko grit her teeth, and shot her hand forward. Snakes launched from under her sleeve at Orochimaru.

"Sen'eijashu (Striking Shadow Snakes)!"

The snakes slammed into Orochimaru, who vanished in a puff of smoke.

"Kukuku…Anko you're a special jōnin of Konoha now, you shouldn't use all those jutsu I taught you."

Anko grit her teeth even more.

"What do you want? To assassinate Hokage-sama?"

Orochimaru chuckled.

"No, I'm just taking a relaxing stroll in the park. Besides, I don't have enough men for that yet and Kumo beat me to all the unloved, little orphans, so I thought I'd stop by and pick up some talent from home after my walk."

Three tomoe appeared on Anko's shoulder and she grabbed them with a look of pain.

"Ugh…"

Orochimaru smiled.

"I just gave a kid one of those 'curse seals.' There's a kid I find promising…"

Anko smirked.

"How selfish…that kid's going to die."

Orochimaru chuckled.

"The chance of survival is one in ten, like you, he might not die. And if my calculations are correct…his 'family tradition' might even increase his chance of survival."

Anko continued to smirk.

"You must really like this kid…"

Now it was Orochimaru's turn to smirk.

"Jealous are we? Are you still upset I threw you away?"

A wave of pain shot through Anko from her shoulder.

"Unlike you, this one is talented, a genius even when caged. I simply want to set him free, and see how far he can fly. Unlocking the talent of the next generation, is that not what the 'will of fire' is all about? Or do you prefer to lock away and ignore those with promise, until kinder individuals such as myself come along and show them what they can become? No, if he survives things could get very interesting. Please don't end the exam prematurely; about three from my village are also taking part and I'm going to enjoy this. If you try to end my enjoyment, believe me that Konoha is finished."

With that, Orochimaru vanished in a puff of smoke and ANBU leapt out from the bushes.

"You, go alert the Hokage and ask him to come to the tower, the rest of you, grab Anko and let's go."

* * *

><p>Lee and Tenten stood over Neji in the cave where they had laid him down. They had found him unconscious after they returned with supplies, and were waiting for him to recover. They also noticed a strange mark on his shoulder.<p>

In the bushes, three Oto genin watched the two.

"Our target is Hyūga Neji, let's go."

"We can kill the other two if they get in the way?"

"Of course."

Lee and Tenten turned to face three Oto genin who walked out of the bush. The female one spoke first.

"Please wake up Neji-kun."

The hunched over one continued.

"We want to fight him."

Lee made a fist while kunai appeared in Ten Ten's hands.

"Lee?"

Lee nodded.

"Let's go."

Tenten launched her kunai towards the middle of the genin while Lee charged at them. The genin dodged the kunai only to notice an explosive tag that blew them all apart, separating the girl and spiky haired boy from the hunched boy. Lee chased after the pair while Tenten launched a barrage of shuriken which the hunched boy dodged.

'_That kid uses some sort of trick that damages you even if you dodge him; I can't let him get close to Lee. If I keep him away from Lee, Lee should be able to handle the other two.'_

As Lee charged, the spiky-haired boy put his arms forward.

"Zankūha (Slicing Sound Wave)!"

A blast of supersonic sound waves shot out at Lee. The boy smirked until he noticed there was no body. He noticed a moment too late as Lee appeared behind him and dealt him a chop to the neck. The boy fell over unconscious. The girl tossed two senbon, one with a bell, one without. Lee easily dodged them and charged at her. The girl pulled a string to ring the bell, but as the bell rang Lee launched a kick that caught her in the head.

"Konoha Senpū (Leaf Whirlwind)!"

The hunched genin continued to dodge Ten Ten's barrage, blocking with the metal device on his arm. '_This is not going well…these two are too strong. And if Neji is supposedly stronger than these two…'_

The ninja put one hand up and pulled out his team's scroll with the other. He placed it on the ground.

"It seems you two are too strong for us. We'll give you our scroll if you let us go. Know though, that failure isn't an option for us Oto-nin, we will kill Neji, one way or another."

The hunched ninja walked over, picked up his two teammates, and disappeared while Lee picked up his scroll.

-In the center tower-

Anko rested on a couch, waiting with two ANBU for the Hokage to arrive. As she did, a chūnin burst into the room.

"We've been waiting for your arrival, Anko-san! There is something I must report!"

Anko glared at the shinobi.

"What is it? We're in the middle of an important meeting!"

The chūnin held up a video tape.

"Take a quick look at this!"

The chūnin put the tape in a VCR player.

"Now here! Please look at this time!"

Anko's eyes widened.

"This…this is…."

The chūnin pointed at the time.

"This is the recording of the second test, an hour and twenty minutes into it, and again at an hour and thirty seven minutes. Three shinobi from Kumogakure, and three from Sunagakure, have passed the second test. And not only that, but the other team from Kumogakure just arrived a few minutes ago…"

Anko stared at the screen.

"How is that even possible?"

The chūnin spoke up.

"To pass in only eighty, ninety, and one hundred and twenty minutes…this has never happened before. It is very abnormal. These guys are not at genin level to demolish the test like that…"

Anko kept her eyes on the screen.

"That's not all."

The chūnin looked at Anko.

"What?"

Anko walked to the window.

"From the arena entrance to the tower is about ten kilometers. Wild beasts, poisonous insects, rough terrain. They made it seems as if it was nothing. Especially that brown haired Suna kid…"

The chūnin turned back to the footage of the Suna team.

"What about this kid?"

Anko turned her head.

"Haven't you noticed?"

One of the ANBU nodded.

"…I see…that's amazing."

The chūnin looked at the ANBU, confused.

"What about him is so…?"

Anko turned back towards the chūnin.

"Take a good look at his body."

The chūnin's eyes narrowed and he smiled.

"…I see."

Anko smiled slightly.

"Not a single scratch. Not only that, but you can't even spot any dirt on his clothes…"

One of the ANBU crossed his arms.

"It must have something to do with his abilities…looks like a reliable guy has appeared. I don't like the look of his eyes though…"

-Bottom Floor of the Tower-

Team Fire walked through the central tower after chatting with the Konoha chūnin who had been summoned. They had never seen him before, but the team agreed something about that chūnin with a scar across his nose had seemed quite familiar…

"Hello, Naruto-san, Hinata-san, and Sasuke-san."

Team Fire turned to see Team Water, Haku and Kimimaro bowing politely while Tayuya scoffed.

"What took you guys so #$!-ing long?"

Naruto smirked.

"Oh nothing much. Seeing the sights, smelling the flowers…"

Naruto shrugged.

"Fighting Orochimaru…you know, the little things."

Tayuya burst out laughing.

"Yeah right, don't #$! with me. Next you'll tell me you're the #$!-ing son of the #$!-ing Yondaime Hokage."

The Sandaime Hokage, who had just entered the building, began violently coughing.

"Hokage-sama! Are you all right?"

The Hokage waved off the ANBU.

"I'm fine, I'm fine."

Tayuya looked horrified. Sasuke smirked.

"Great going, you nearly assassinated the Hokage and started a war."

Tayuya growled.

"Why you!"

Kimimaro nudged Tayuya as he and Haku bowed to the Hokage. Tayuya and Team Fire followed suit.

"Greetings, Hokage-sama. Please forgive our teammate's language."

The Hokage laughed.

"Ah ha, it's perfectly fine, you've just completed a tough test. Congratulations by the way, I believe you've made it in record time. Kumogakure has sure sent some fine shinobi this year I see."

Kimimaro bowed once more to the Hokage.

"Thank you, Hokage-sama. It is an honor to be here."

The Hokage laughed once more.

"No, the pleasure is all mine. Such courtesy too! If only we had more shinobi like you! Now if you'll excuse me, I have a meeting to attend. Please, relax and prepare for the next exam.

-Upstairs-

Anko grunted, leaning over while sitting on the couch. The Hokage stood in front and to the left of her, with the two ANBU in the corners of the room and Kotetsu and Izumo standing behind the couch.

"Now, does the curse still hurt?"

Anko looked up at the Hokage as she grabbed her shoulder.

"No, thank you, it's much better now."

Behind the couch, Kotetsu and Izumo interrupted.

"By the way, Orochimaru is one of the three legendary Sannin, right? Isn't he the Bingo Book class S missing ninja that even ANBU can't get close to? I heard that he had already died…"

"Why would he come to this village now?"

Anko grimaced and thought back to her encounter.

"He's interested in a boy, Hyūga Neji."

The Hokage rubbed his chin.

"Hmmm…"

Sandaime let a puff of smoke out of his pipe.

"Well…Let's continue the exam as planned. We will keep our eyes on Orochimaru's movements."

Anko nodded.

"Yes…"

-Five Days Later-

Anko sat on a couch, enjoying her meal of dango and juice.

"Anko-sama! The second test is now complete. We have confirmed twenty-seven have passed the second test. In accordance with the rules, for the first time in five years we will start preparations for a preliminary before the third test."

Anko shook her head.

"Hehe twenty-seven? Darn, I said I'd cut them in half, but I was expecting single digits. Talented group this year…"

-Tower Bottom Floor-

Twenty-seven genin gathered in a large room. On two opposite walls were walkways with railing, looking over a large, arena-ish area. On the wall in between were two large, stone hands forming a ram hand sign, the wall to either side of the hands divided by black wallpaper into four rectangles. In front of the genin stood Sandaime Hokage, all the examiners, and the jōnin sensei of all the teams who had passed.

The genin looked around, sizing up who had passed.

"Onī-chan! You passed!"

Naruto smiled, as Tsukiko waved to get his attention, and waved back.

"Hey Tsukiko-chan, glad to see you passed too.

Kōta eyed the Suna team warily.

'_Darn, I hoped we'd never run into him again…'_

A man who looked like an older version of Rock Lee but with a flak jacket smirked at Kakashi.

"Your team isn't too bad, maybe they were lucky. But as long as my team is around, getting any farther is impossible since from now; it's all about real ability. Well, with youth there are sweet times and there are sour times, eh Kakashi?"

Kakashi turned and faced the man.

"Huh? You say something, Gai?"

Gai turned away, eyes white with rage and fist shaking.

'_Heh, not bad my rival Kakashi…you're cool in that way and it really gets on my nerves…"_

Sasuke smirked.

"Heh, I can't say that I'm getting a good feeling…"

Sandaime smiled.

'_For this many to make it…and most of them are rookies. Both teams from Kumogakure as well, it seems I'll be meeting the Raikage face to face soon…'_

"No wonder they all nominated them…"

Anko stepped forward.

"Hokage-sama will now explain the third test. Listen carefully! Now Hokage-sama, please."

Sandaime took a breath.

"Yes, for the coming third test…but before I explain that, there is something I'd like you to know. It concerns the true reason for this exam. Why do we have all the allied countries taking the exam together? "To promote friendship among the countries." "To raise the level of shinobi." I don't want you to be confused about the true meaning of these. This exam is…"

The Hokage took out his pipe for a moment, refilled it, and put it back in his mouth.

"A replacement for war among the allied countries."

All the genin looked confused.

"What does that mean?" asked Tenten.

"If you go back in time, the current allies were enemies who fought each other over who would rule. In order to prevent wasteful fighting, the stage that these countries chose for battle…that is the origin of this Chūnin selection exam."

Kōta looked curious.

"So how do we fit into that? Isn't this test for deciding who's a chūnin?"

Sandaime let out a puff of smoke.

"It is a fact that this exam decides which shinobis have what it takes to become a chūnin. But on the other hand, this exam has another side where each country's shinobi risk their own lives to protect their land's prestige."

"Prestige," Ino asked.

Sandaime nodded.

"Watching this third exam will be leaders and influential individuals from many countries who make up the clients of the shinobi. And the leaders of our countries as well will also be there to watch each of your battles. If the strength of a country is clear, that country will receive more clients. And conversely, if seen as weak, they will lose clients. And this will signal to potential enemy countries that "Our village has this much power" so it will send a political message to the outsiders."

Kiba looked somewhat irritated.

"Yeah, but why? Why do we have to risks _our_ lives in battle?"

Sandaime pulled out his pipe again.

"The strength of a country is the strength of the village. The strength of the village is the strength of its shinobi. And a shinobi's true strength is born only through life or death battle. This exam is a place to see each country's strength and to show off your own. It only has meaning because lives are on the line. That's why those who have come before you have fought in this chūnin exam for this dream that is meaningful."

Tenten still looked confused.

"But then why do you say stuff about it being for friendship?"

Sandaime narrowed his eyes.

"I said it in the beginning; I don't want you to confuse the purpose of this. By losing life and establishing balance; this is the shape of friendship in the world of shinobi. Before we begin the third test I will tell you one more thing. This is not just a test…this is a life-risking battle…with your dreams and your country's prestige on the line."

Gaara leaned forward.

"I don't care what it is, just hurry up and tell us what this life-risking battle entails."

Sandaime took a breath.

"Yes, I'd like to explain the third exam now, but…"

A Konoha shinobi who hadn't been introduced stepped forward and bowed in front of the Hokage.

"Actually…cough…I apologize Hokage-sama. From here on, as referee, will you please allow me, Gekkō Hayate…"

Sandaime nodded.

"By all means."

Hayate stood up and turned to face the genin.

"Hello everyone, I'm Hayate. Umm…before the third test, there's something I'd like you to do. Umm…it's a preliminary before the third test to decide who gets to participate in the main event."

The genin looked shocked. Sakura asked the question on their minds.

"Preliminary?"

Shikamaru looked angry.

"Preliminary? What do you mean?"

Sakura continued, a worried look on her face.

"Sensei…I don't understand this preliminary but…why aren't all the people here allowed to participate in the next exam?"

Hayate coughed before answering.

"Umm…because the first and second test may have been too easy this year, we have a bit too many people remaining. According to Chūnin Exam rules, we must have a preliminary and reduce the number of participants for the third exam."

Sakura looked shocked.

"No way…"

Hayate continued. "As Hokage-sama indicated earlier, there will be many guests at the third test and the fights could take too long, so we're limited in time and number of matches. Umm…so anyway…those who are not feeling well…those who feel like quitting after these explanations please come forward now, since we will be starting the preliminary immediately."

All the genin looked stunned. Kiba looked somewhat angry.

"What? Right now?"

Kabuto took a step forward and raised his hand.

"Umm…I'm going to quit."

Hayate coughed as he looked at a book.

"Ummm…you're Yakushi Kabuto-kun from Konoha right? You may leave now. Umm…does anyone else want to retire? Oh…umm…I forgot to tell you that from now on it will be individual battling. You may raise your hand based on your own judgment."

Kiba looked at Kabuto with outrage.

"Why quit now Kabuto? This is your seventh time! Don't you want to pass?"

Kabuto nodded.

"I'm sorry, little rookie, my body is all beat up. Actually, I haven't been able to hear out of my left ear from the time I got attacked by the Oto nin before the first test. And now we'll have to risk our lives…"

A few genin noted the Hokage and Anko looking at Kabuto and discussing something. Kabuto glanced at the 'jōnin' from Otogakure. Hayate let out another cough.

"Umm…now…there are no more retiring, right?"

Neji rubbed his shoulder, but no one spoke. Sandaime watched Neji.

"I thought so."

Ibiki looked at the Hokage.

"What should we do?"

Anko leaned closer.

"We should remove him from the exam and have the ANBU watching over and protecting him."

Neji's instructor, Maito Gai, also the Rock Lee lookalike talking to Kakashi earlier, interrupted.

"He's not the type to easily agree to that. He's from the Hyūga Clan after all."

Sandaime rubbed his chin.

"Hmm, perhaps the other seal will counter it. For now, we'll let Neji continue and watch. If the curse begins opening and releasing power, then jump in and stop him."

Hayate let out one more cough.

"Um…now…let's begin the preliminary. This preliminary will consist of one on one fighting. You will basically fight as if in a real life confrontation. Now, since we have exactly twenty-six entrants, we will conduct thirteen matches and…umm...the winners will advance to the third test. There are basically no rules. The fight continues until one of you dies or is knocked out or admits defeat. Cough, umm…if you don't want to die then quickly acknowledge your defeat. But when I decide that a winner has clearly been established…umm…since we don't want to pointlessly increase the number of corpses, I'll jump in and stop things. And the object that controls your destiny…"

Anko pulled a mouthpiece closer to her mouth.

"Open it."

One of the rectangular sections of the wall behind the stone hand sign rose up, revealing an electronic screen.

"Is this…this electronic score-board will show the match-ups for each battle. Now, this is sudden, but let's announce the two names of the first fight."

The genin watched as the score-board cycled through the names randomly. Who would be up first?

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><p>Moar Author's notes: Just because I like talking. Anyways, so yea Orochimaru doesn't really care about Neji, at least not as much as he did about Sasuke. Not just using Neji as a Sasuke 2.0. Or maybe am but in a different way. Anyways, he sees Neji as just a promising bloodline kid with emotional issues he can mess with. It's more a just for kicks thing with the chance of getting a powerful new minion if things go well. Cause I see Orochimaru as a Joker-ish, just for the fun of it type villain though way worse at planning. Seriously. Just dig up some old Uchiha, edo tensei him, and take over that body. Or just steal his eyes if you can't take over an edo tensei body. See I'm a way better Orochimaru than Orochimaru. Anyways...<p>

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><p>Jutsu List:<p>

Kuchiyose aka Summoning yea you guys know what that does. Same with Kage Bunshin aka Shadow clones.

Raiton: Kagekiha: sends lightning out of users hands onto something conductive, can be used to boost attacks.

Ninpou Jourou Senbon: yea, throw umbrella in air, it spins and sends out a hail of armor piercing senbon that can be controlled via chakra.

Sabaka Kyuu and Sabaka Sousou: Gaara grabs people with Sand, covers them, and then squishes them. Terrifying, bloody, but immediate and painless.

Zankuha: Zaku's move, sends out massive blasts of air and sound waves to pulverize stuff and deflect attacks.

Konoha Senpu: LEAF WHIRLWIND. Lee kicks things. Ok more officially a succession of high and low kicks to try and catch the enemy off guard after they dodge one.


	8. Chapter 7: The Best of the Best

******Authors Note**: Hello everyone! Just letting you know, going home this Tuesday. So this will probably be the last chapter for about two weeks from then. Probably won't work on this very much at home, will be hanging with family and playing SWTOR or Skyrim most likely. I'll try if I can but no promises that's for sure.

Review Shoutouts and responses:

ero-sennin56: Sorry if you don't particularly like Hinata, I didn't particularly have any plans to kill her off anytime soon. But I suppose now's a good time to mention it. Yes there will be pairings in this fic, after all, if they dont match up naturally the Raikage will just go ahead and order it. Who those pairings are and when it will happen are up for debate. Safe to say...I don't particularly like tween love and from my understanding in most medieval societies you aren't an adult until around 15 anyways, so thats the minimum age I'm setting for stuff. 12 years old's a bit young in my opinion, even for ninja.

The Lament Beast: Thanks for being so diligent with the reviews! Thank you also for your kind words! Lol, as you have continued reviewing and he has not I believe you are currently in the lead for the title!

harubana: Thanks for your encouraging words as well! Haha fan art would be epic I imagine. Lol if its any consolation I was supposed to be studying too as I wrote this...heh about that...

nissassa: Fair points, canon Naruto doesn't turn out too badly for them now does he? Perhaps he is what they want him to be, but I feel like he has even more potential than that. Who knows, maybe there is a reason for why canon is the way it is...and that reason is Kishimoto is a better writer than I lol. After all...he does make the money for it. For Naruto's parents having friends, yeah, that's my point. You'd think his parents would have some friends that would help out their kid. I just came up with an over the top blame it on sharingan reason for why they didn't and why no one recognizes him lol.

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><p><strong>Disclaimer: <strong>I don't own Naruto. Otherwise I wouldn't care about exams after all. I also don't own any other stuff that I like to steal stuff from...mainly Rurouni Kenshin, Blazblue, Skyrim, and Naruto: Genkyouien. Let's see who gets the references! Though I don't think I use them all in this chapter...oh well.

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><p><strong>Chapter 7: Best of the Best<strong>

The genin watched the screen intensely. Who would be picked first? The screen cycled through names randomly for a few seconds and then stopped, displaying:

**Tenten vs. Kinuta Dosu**

Dosu appeared to smile under his bandages.

"Perfect."

Tenten smirked as well. Hayate motioned and Tenten and Dosu stood facing each other in the center of the room. Hayate waved to the walkways.

"Will everyone except the participants move to the upper level?"

Everyone began walking up, each team meeting up with their jōnin sensei.

"Hey Nagato-sensei!"

"H-Hello Nagato-sensei."

Sasuke just nodded silently. Nagato nodded back.

"Hello team, congratulations on making it this far. I knew you could do it."

Naruto pointed at him.

"Liar, you didn't think we would pass!"

Nagato grinned.

"I did, but I never said you wouldn't make it to the end. I never doubted you'd get this far, but I didn't want you to get a big head. Pride before a fall, my young student."

Naruto crossed his arms and grunted. Hinata giggled while Sasuke just shook his head.

Team Fire stopped next to Team Water, with a bunch of teams from Konoha on their other side. One could predict which Konoha team ended up closest to them…

"Onī-chan!"

Tsukiko tackle-hugged Naruto as was becoming standard. Naruto sheepishly hugged her back.

"Hi Tsukiko-chan, nice to see you too."

Kōta smile and waved.

"Hello guys, nice to see we all made it."

Sakura was busy sweat-dropping.

"Uh, Tsukiko-chan, you do know you might have to fight them?"

Tsukiko looked at Sakura curiously.

"Mugyuu…?"

Sakura sweat-dropped even more. '_Not that again!'_

"Uhh…you know what nevermind. You'll find out."

Kakashi walked up to his team, eye-smiled and waved at Team Fire.

"Yo."

Kakashi and Nagato nodded at each other and then turned their attention to the center.

Hayate stood between the two shinobi.

"Now…please begin."

-Preliminary Round One: Tenten vs. Dosu-

Dosu pulled his right arm back, revealing the device he always wore on it. Tenten reached into her pocket, pulling out several kunai and launching them at Dosu. Dosu leapt to the side, narrowly evading several explosions.

'_Not only an explosion where I was standing, but one in front in case I charged, this girl's good with her timings. But she's obviously trying to put distance between us like in the forest, she must not be confident in her taijutsu. Though, she does know something about me, she's not a typical dumb kunoichi it seems.'_

Dosu continued to run to the side, avoiding the constant barrage of kunai that followed him. He suddenly turned and jumped towards Tenten, only to leap back when he saw a kunai with an exploding tag hit the ground in front of him.

"Gah!"

Dosu was thrown back by the explosion. As he looked up, he saw two scrolls swirling in the air. Tenten jumped in between them and reached out.

Up in the balcony, Lee and Gai drowned out all conversation.

"Tenteeeen! Youth Power!"

"CHEER HARDER!"

"Sōshōryū (Twin Rising Dragons)!"

Weapons of every kind began appearing from seals all over the scrolls, and Tenten grabbed and threw each one with perfect precision. Dosu's eye widened and he channeled chakra to his feet as he tried to leap away from the massive barrage of weaponry. He avoided receiving any serious injuries by blocking with his arm device, but he still took several minor scratches.

'_Darn! If I don't get close to her soon I'm done for!' _

Dosu leapt away from a particularly close kama which passed only inches from his head, only to see yet another explosive tag on it. He quickly raised his right arm before it detonated, being thrown across the room. Dosu shook his head and got back to his feet, checking the device on his arm.

'_A small crack, but it seems like it still works. I wasn't sure if it could handle a point-blank explosion, but it seems Orochimaru-sama makes his tools well.'_

Dosu then looked at Tenten. She was standing on the ground, breathing heavily as the scrolls floated down around her. Dosu smirked under his bandages.

'_It seems she's out of both weapons and chakra. I'll have a chance at Neji after all!'_

Dosu raised his right arm behind his head and charged towards Tenten. Tenten smirked and pulled her hands back behind her head. Dosu looked around, eye widening as several weapons around him launched off the ground straight at him. He quickly leapt to the side, noticing the wires connecting the weapons to Tenten's hands.

'_It was trap, she's not even breathing heavily anymore. I should've expected more from Neji's teammate.'_

Dosu turned. While he had been dodging, Tenten had grabbed a kusarigama and began swinging the ball around her head. She launched the ball as Dosu was landing; there was no possible way for him to dodge. Dosu raised his right arm next to his head and tried to block out the sound as the ball slammed into the device on his arm. Dosu then turned to see Tenten charging at him, now holding a naginata. Dosu smirked.

'_All that and now she attacks me up close? Looks like she's underestimated me.' _ Dosu pulled back his right arm and charged. Tenten pulled the naginata behind her, then swung it at Dosu's side. Dosu smirked as the blade contacted his arm device.

"You lose."

Dosu's eye suddenly widened as he heard a loud cracking noise. He looked down to see the naginata smash through the crack in his device, which had been enlarged by the kusarigama strike. Tenten now smirked as the device fell into pieces.

"Any tool can be broken, let's see how your taijutsu is now."

Dosu grabbed a kunai and quickly raised his arms to defend. Tenten, however, trained under Konoha's strongest taijutsu specialist with Rock Lee and Neji, the two strongest Konoha genin in terms of taijutsu; Dosu was no Lee. Within seconds, Dosu fell to the ground, blood streaming from slashes on his right arm and left leg. Tenten held her naginata at his throat.

Hayate raised his hand.

"Cough, I'm calling it. Winner! Tenten!"

* * *

><p>Nagato nodded. <em>'Not a bad strategy, keep him on the run while the whole time she was aiming for his weapon. I suppose one would expect an indirect strategy from a long range weapon user like her.'<em>

Nagato turned and watched as Tenten's more…enthusiastic teammates celebrated.

"WHOOOO TENTEEEENNNNN!"

"WAY TO SHOW THEM THE POWER OF YOUTH! How was that, Kakashi?"

Kakashi had pulled out a book around the same time Nagato did, and looked up from his readings.

"Sorry, did you say something Gai?"

As Gai started brooding over Kakashi 'acting so cool,' Kakashi and Nagato glanced at each other's books, looked up at each other, nodded in approval, and went back to reading while still paying full attention to the matches. The electronic scoreboard had already started cycling through names, stopping on:

**Arashi no Naruto vs. Inuzuka Kiba**

Kiba smiled while Akamaru barked.

"Whoo Akamaru! Let's go! We won't lose to some Kumo brat!"

Naruto looked at Nagato and they both smirked, then Naruto attempted to peel Tsukiko off of him.

"Waaahhhh! Onī-chan's leaving!"

Naruto grinned and gave Tsukiko a thumbs-up.

"Don't worry Tsukiko-chan, I'll be back in a second."

Tsukiko looked up at him with begging eyes.

"Promise?"

Naruto nodded.

"I promise."

Tsukiko nodded sadly.

"Mugyuu…ok…"

Tsukiko walked back over to stand by her team, her face returning to her normal stoic look once she left Naruto. Hinata still felt strange watching Naruto and Tsukiko's interaction, but took a deep breath and willed away the storm clouds.

"G-Good luck N-Naruto-kun."

Sasuke simply grunted.

"You better not lose, loser."

Naruto smirked at him and made his way down. Hayate watched as the two ninja eyed each other, Naruto with a serious look on his face and Kiba with a smirk on his.

"Please begin!"

-Preliminaries Round Two: Naruto vs. Kiba-

Kiba crouched down, forming a tiger hand sign.

"Shikyaku no Jutsu (Ninja Art: Beast Mimicry: All-Fours Jutsu)!"

Chakra began glowing off of Kiba's body as his fingernails sharpened into claws. Kiba launched himself at Naruto, but his hand bounced off Naruto's cleaver. Kiba was then sent flying back by a punch to the face.

"Really now? Use your jutsu right in front of me and then run straight at me? Come on, Konoha's better than that! Why don't you use your dog?"

Kiba growled.

"You'll regret that!"

A smoke bomb appeared in Kiba's hand while he and Akamaru both charged at Naruto. Kiba threw the bomb, which created a massive cloud of smoke around Naruto. Kiba smirked as Naruto jumped out of the smoke, only for Akamaru to leap at him mouth open. The smoke cleared to reveal Naruto lying on the ground, Akamaru happily sitting in front of him.

"Haha yes! Great job! You did it Aka-"

Kiba was cut off as Akamaru transformed into Naruto, who once again slammed his fist into Kiba's face. Kiba looked up to see Akamaru trapped in a small tornado. Naruto smirked.

"Fūton: Tatsumaki no Keimusho no Jutsu (Wind Style: Tornado Prison Jutsu). You're an Inuzuka after all. Take away your partner and your effectiveness is cut in half. Though I didn't expect the henge to work so well, I thought Inuzuka's were supposed to have a good sense of smell."

* * *

><p>Kakashi watched the fight with interest.<p>

'_He determined his opponent's ability from the start based on clan markings, separated Kiba and Akamaru, and then tricked Kiba into thinking he had won. Now he's taunting Kiba to force him to make a mistake. I can't argue that Kumo hasn't been good for Naruto…'_

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><p>Kiba roared and charged at Naruto after his taunts. In his rage, Kiba didn't notice a small spider on the ground…<p>

As Kiba jumped above Naruto, about to slash his face, there was a puff of smoke as another Naruto jumped up, slamming his fist into Kiba's chin. As the smoke dissipated, Naruto formed the last hand-sign of a jutsu.

"Fūton: Tatsumaki no Keimusho no Jutsu!"

A small tornado appeared on the ground where Kiba was about to land, catching him and hoisting him into the air. Kiba thought furiously as the tornado spun him around, but there was nothing he could do. Naruto turned and smiled at Hayate.

"Hey examiner guy! Does that count as incapacitating both of them? Or should I use another jutsu?"

Hayate waited another minute and watched Kiba. Kiba made no moves to try and escape the jutsu. Hayate let out a cough.

"It seems Inuzuka Kiba is incapacitated and can no longer fight. Winner: Arashi no Naruto!"

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><p>Naruto walked back up to his team, hands behind his head and a smile on his face. As soon as he got close, Tsukiko suddenly smiled and ran at him.<p>

"Yaaaayyy! Onī-chan won! And now onī-chan's back!"

Naruto grinned and thanked Tsukiko while Sakura sweat-dropped.

"Uh Tsukiko, he kind of beat someone from our village, we really shouldn't be so happy about that."

Tsukiko tilted her head and looked at Sakura curiously.

"Mugyuu…?"

Sakura sighed.

"They're a different village so they might not be our friends. See what if someone from our team had to fight someone from their team?"

As Sakura spoke, the scoreboard finished its cycling:

**Tsuchiyama Kōta vs. Arashi no Sasuke**

Sakura sweat-dropped.

"Like that…"

Naruto smirked at Sasuke.

"Better not lose now, jerk. Kōta, beat this guy and show him who's boss!"

Kōta, Nagato, Kakashi, and Team Water chuckled at Naruto's apparent betrayal of his own teammate. Sasuke just grunted and made his way downstairs.

-Preliminary Round Three: Kōta vs. Sasuke-

"Please begin."

Kōta immediately launched several shuriken at Sasuke, who drew his chokutō, slashing the shuriken out of the air. Sasuke then charged at Kōta, whose eyes widened at the speed. As Sasuke's sword flew towards Kōta's head, Kōta put his left hand up, palm open.

'_Is he really going to try and catch my sword bare-handed?'_

Sasuke grunted in surprise as his sword suddenly stopped. His sword was imbedded into Kōta's hand, or rather, a case of rock surrounding Kōta's hand and forearm.

"Heh heh, Iwa no Yoroi (Rock Armor), your sword won't hurt me."

Kōta pulled back his right arm, also covered in rock, and formed a fist. Sasuke smirked, quickly formed a rat hand sign and just as quickly released it and grabbed his sword again.

"Raiton: Kagekiha (Lightning Style: Emotion Wave)!"

A small bit of lightning shot from Sasuke's hands to his blade as he grabbed and pushed on it. Kōta gasped as the rock armor on his arm cracked, and then shattered into pieces. Kōta leaped back as quickly as he could, shoving his right arm into Sasuke's blade to save his left. Kōta avoided any serious damage, but his rock armor cracked to reveal a large cut on his right arm.

"Heh, raiton jutsu? Should've expected that from a Kumo ninja. Guess I can't stand and take it then."

Sasuke smirked as he sheathed his sword and formed some hand signs.

"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu (Fire Style: Grand Fireball)!"

Kōta's eyes widened as a massive ball of fire roared at him. He didn't even try to run as the fire engulfed him.

Sasuke walked up to the crater his fireball had created and looked in. "Heh, below is it?"

Sasuke leapt into the air as Kōta's arm shot out at his ankle, then disappeared back underground after missing. Sasuke drew his sword and pulled one arm back while extending one arm down towards the ground, resting the tip of his sword on his outstretched arm. He began channeling lightning chakra through his blade as Darui had taught him to do, causing it to glow blue and emit a buzzing, almost chirping noise. As Sasuke fell towards the ground, he thrust his sword down, plunging it into the floor.

"Heh, looks like I missed."

Sasuke pulled his sword out of the ground and turned around. Rock rose from the ground all around him, forming into four clones of Kōta. Sasuke looked from one to the other.

"Hmm, Iwa Bunshin no Jutsu (Rock Clone Technique)?"

Sasuke jumped to the side as the clones charged at him, leaping in between their fists and dodging at the last second. Sasuke saw an opening and ran through it, only for a fifth clone to rise behind him and grab him. Kōta rose out of the ground, rock already covering his right arm.

"Heh, got ya. Would you like to surrender?"

Sasuke just smirked. Kōta smiled and shook his head.

"Didn't think so." Kōta jumped forward and slammed his fist into Sasuke's face…only for Sasuke to disappear in a puff of smoke. Kōta's eyes widened as Sasuke's sword stabbed through his side.

'_Thanks loser, that's a helpful jutsu. It used up a lot of my chakra though, how on earth do you make so many?'_

"Wha…how?"

Sasuke grunted.

"You aren't the only one with a clone jutsu and I had to get you out of the ground somehow. Don't worry, the wound's not fatal. Technically, that's the spot that's least likely to seriously injure your opponent but…"

Sasuke formed a rat hand sign again.

"Now you can't avoid this. Raiton: Kagekiha no Jutsu!"

Lightning surged through Kōta's body, causing him to tremble and fall to the ground. Hayate walked over, but saw Kōta still conscious, though unable to move.

'_Not bad, he was right about that being a safe wound. Probably won't even have to go to the infirmary, but this fight's obviously over.'_

"Winner: Arashi no Sasuke!"

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><p>Kakashi jumped down, wrapped a bandage around Kōta's side, then picked him up and carried him back upstairs. Sakura looked worried.<p>

"Are you ok, Kōta?"

Kōta smiled weakly.

"Haha, yea can't move yet but fine otherwise."

Sakura shook her head.

"It's really not fair, you could've won against the some of the other people, but you just happen to get the raiton user."

"That's the point," Kakashi interjected. "When you fight as a team, you cover each other's weaknesses. But as a chūnin, you often run into opponents who are perfectly suited to counter you and you'll have to fight them alone. Being able to adapt to that is the mark of a good chūnin. And Kōta, you actually did excellently. Hiding underground once you realized his raiton could smash through your doton was a smart plan and helped cover your weakness to raiton beautifully. It wasn't his raiton that beat you, your opponent just happened to be a step ahead of you. But I'm proud of you, regardless."

* * *

><p>Sasuke walked back up to his team.<p>

"Woohoo! Good job, Sasuke!"

"N-nice work, Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke grunted as Nagato nodded at him.

"Excellent work, Sasuke."

Tsukiko actually peeled herself away from Naruto for a moment and rejoined her team. She walked over to where Kōta was resting against the wall and put her hand on his shoulder.

"Haha, thanks Tsukiko. I'm fine, I'll probably be better by the end of the prelims."

Tsukiko nodded, satisfied, and stayed with her team for a few more minutes before returning to Naruto's side.

The scoreboard finished its cycling:

**Rock Lee vs. Akado Yoroi**

Lee kicked the air. "YES! Now I can show everyone what a splendid ninja I am!"

Gai punched the air. "Go Lee! Show everyone the power of youth!"

Lee saluted. "Yes, Gai-sensei!"

Lee jumped down in front of Yoroi.

'_What a joker, this fight won't take long at all.'_

"Please begin."

-Preliminary Round Four: Lee vs. Yoroi-

Lee smiled, "To be able to fight this early, I couldn't be happier."

Yoroi bent over, one hand reaching into his kunai pouch and one hand in front of him. The hand in front of him started glowing.

"We'll see how long you stay happy!"

Yoroi launched a handful of shuriken at Lee and charged forward. Lee jumped to the side, and then jumped back out of the way of Yoroi's swipe. Lee launched a kick at Yoroi's head. Yoroi ducked down, only to see Lee spin around and launch a low kick straight at him. Because Yoroi had ducked, the low kick hit him on the side of the head.

"Konoha Senpū (Leaf Whirlwind)!"

Yoroi flew across the room, sliding across the floor. After a while he came to stop, and didn't move. Hayate walked over and placed his palm on Yoroi's forehead.

'_Like I even need to check'_

"Winner: Rock Lee!"

Lee pumped his fist in leapt into the air. "Whoo! I did it, Gai-sensei."

Gai-sensei jumped down. "Lee, you truly are a splendid ninja."

Both ninja had a tears streaming down their face.

"Lee!"

"Gai-sensei!"

"Lee!"

"Gai-sensei!"

"Lee!"

"Gai-sensei!"

"Lee!"

"Gai-sensei!"

Lee and Gai embraced each other in a hug. Suddenly the world warped behind them and a beach with a sunset appeared behind them. The entire room was silent.

"W-Wow…what a powerful g-genjutsu…"

Sasuke gritted his teeth.

"I…I can't see through it…how can they be so strong?"

Naruto's face went blue with shock.

"Wha…what kind of a genjutsu is that?"

Tsukiko looked up at him confused.

"Onī-chan, what genjutsu?"

Naruto pointed at Lee and Gai.

"That one, can't you see…"

Naruto looked at Tsukiko's expression. It suddenly hit Naruto that perhaps Tsukiko _did_ know what he was talking about.

The thought terrified him even more than Bee's rapping.

Thankfully for everyone involved, the electronic scoreboard had finished another cycle:

**Tsuchi Kin vs. Tennokoe Hisako**

Kin smirked. "All right, some little Konoha brat. Looks like I'm getting a bye to the finals."

Hisako grinned.

"Woohoo! Not last! I'm totally going to beat this guy! Kiba will be so jealous."

Kurenai flashed a look of irritation.

"Don't underestimate your opponent Hisako! That's how Kiba lost, remember?"

Hisako's face suddenly fell and she started bowing to Kurenai.

"Yes Kurenai-sensei, sorry Kurenai-sensei."

Kurenai sighed. "It's all right, now get down there."

Hisako and Kin stood facing each other, each smirking at the other.

"Please begin."

-Preliminary Round Five: Kin vs. Hisako-

Hisako grabbed her shield and drew her sword, and charged at Kin. Kin leapt back and threw two senbon, one with a bell attached to it. Hisako easily deflected the senbon with her shield.

"Ha, using a bell to distract me? Doesn't work since my shield will block your senbon even if I don't see them!"

Hisako smirked. Why didn't ninja use shields more often? So much easier than trying to block with a kunai!

Kin smirked and pulled with her hand. Hisako noticed a string attached to the bell on the senbon which was now imbedded in the floor.

"Ha, I already told you that won't…"

Hisako sudden stopped as the world blurred for a second. When she looked up, there were about fifteen different Kins.

"Hehe, Genjutsu Kane Senbon (Illusion Bell Needles). Let's see how well your shield helps you now."

All the Kins raised their hands, each holding several senbon. Hisako closed her eyes and made a hand sign behind her shield.

"Now, let's begin…"

Kin suddenly gasped and leapt back. Hisako's blade passed mere inches from her neck. She didn't have time to react as Hisako slammed her shield into Kin's face. When Kin opened her eyes, Hisako was standing above her, sword pointed at her neck.

"How…how did you find me?"

Hisako smirked. "Hehe, secret!"

* * *

><p>Kurenai closed her eyes and smirked. '<em>Hisako's a special sensor ninja; she can detect not only your chakra but your very life force. Because of that, you can't hide from her in a genjutsu. That Oto girl lost the fight the moment she used that jutsu.'<em>

* * *

><p>"Winner: Tennokoe Hisako!"<p>

Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

"Hinata?"

Hinata shook her head. "Kin used a g-genjutsu on Hisako, but Hisako somehow saw t-through it. I didn't see her u-use much chakra so I'm not sure how, I would g-guess she's some sort of sensor ninja."

Sasuke nodded contemplatively then looked up at the scoreboard.

"Well, don't think too much about it, you have other things to worry about."

**Arashi no Hinata vs. Hyūga Neji.**

"All right, Hinata-chan! Go whoop this guy!"

Hinata blushed slightly at the attention and made her way towards the center.

* * *

><p>"All right Neji! Go!"<p>

Gai made a thumbs up at his student's cheering.

"That's right Neji! Go and show everyone the power of youth!"

Tenten sweat-dropped.

"But Gai-sensei, Neji's opponent looks slightly younger than him."

Gai shook his head.

"Oh Tenten, youth is not related to age! As long as you have youthful passion, you can…"

As Gai went on, Kakashi walked over and placed a hand on Tenten's shoulder.

"Don't question it Tenten, on that path lies youthful madness."

Tenten nodded solemnly as Gai finished his explanation.

"Gai-sensei! You truly are the best sensei!"

"Lee!"

"Gai-sensei!"

"Lee!"

"Gai-sensei!"

"Lee!"

"Gai-sensei!"

Everyone looked away from the impending 'genjutsu.'

Neji face Hinata, arms crossed.

"Before we begin, you should surrender. I can tell from your stance, the way you walk, and the way you looked at me and your teammates. You're too kind for this. Fighting me will only cause you pain; you are destined to lose this fight. Give up now; I have no desire to hurt you unnecessarily."

Hinata shook her head.

"I may seem kind and shy to you, but I am a shinobi of Kumogakure. For myself, my village, and my friend, I cannot back down from this fight, no matter if I'm destined to lose or not."

Nagato nodded his head in approval, as did Naruto. Naruto thought about shouting out at that jerk, but Hinata seemed to have things covered.

Neji signed. "Very well." With that, Neji activated his Byakugan…

Neji stopped, his face wearing a look of shock. Soon, that shock curled into a look of intense rage.

"YOU!"

Neji leapt at Hinata, palm forward. Hayate coughed as he grabbed Neji's arm.

"Hold on now, cough, I didn't say begin yet."

Hinata flinched from the look of hatred on Neji's face. '_W-What's going on?'_

Neji stood in a jūken stance, his body almost trembling with adrenaline and emitting as much killing intent as he could muster. Hinata stood nervously, but ready, channeling chakra to her feet.

"Please begin."

-Preliminary Fight Six: Hinata vs. Neji-

Neji immediately charged at Hinata as he had before. He was faster than her, but Hinata was ready for the charge and easily moved out of the way. Neji was forced to leap back as a kodachi passed a few inches from his face, and thus was unable to react to Hinata leaping above and behind him. Hinata threw a kunai at the back of Neji's head, but Neji dodged it with ease.

* * *

><p>Sakura watched with a look of awe.<p>

"Wow, does he have eyes on the back of his head or something?"

Naruto crossed his arms.

"Well duh. He _is_ a Hyūga after all."

Naruto's eyes widened in shock as he realized Sakura and Kōta were both looking at him confused.

"Wait, you guys don't know? Aren't you guys Konoha ninja?"

Naruto sighed as Sakura and Kōta's faces didn't change.

"Are you serious? You don't know anything about just the strongest clan in your village? With one of the legendary three dōjutsu kekkei genkai, the Byakugan?"

Kōta tilted his head.

"Byakugan? Kekkei genkai?"

Naruto's eyes widened even more.

"You don't even know what a kekkei genkai is either? Kami what do they teach in the Konoha Academy? Man, if I was there I'd probably be so bored I'd start pulling pranks or something just to survive the day."

Naruto sighed.

"I really shouldn't tell you all this information as a different village but Kami, there are some things you should just know. Especially about clans in your own village. Man, still don't know what your teachers were thinking; what if you ran into some really powerful kid with a kekkei genkai on your first mission? You'd have no idea what to do!"

"Aaaa..choo!"

Kimimaro looked at Haku with concern.

"Are you all right Haku-chan?"

Haku blinked.

"I think so, Kimimaro-kun. Though I feel like someone, somewhere needed me a while ago…"

Kakashi sweat-dropped as Naruto explained the concept of a kekkei genkai.

'_He raises a decent point…I can only imagine if Zabuza had had a kekkei genkai wielding partner, however unlikely that may be. Still, I should probably speak with Iruka and Sandaime about our current curriculum, our students do seem quite behind in terms of recognizing famous clans and their abilities. And geopolitical situations. And…'_

Kakashi decided it would be best to stop himself there.

Naruto was about to explain the Byakugan…and Jūken…and the Hyūga clan in general when Lee interrupted.

"Excuse me, honorable shinobi of Kumogakure, but allow me to explain." Naruto nodded his head and turned back to the match.

'_Thank goodness, _someone_ in Konoha knows something about their own clans.'_

* * *

><p>Neji leapt back from the exploding tag on the kunai he dodged, creating some space between Hinata and Neji. Hinata frowned.<p>

'_He's a Hy__ū__ga, so he's probably very good at j__ū__ken. I need to stay away from him…'_

Hinata reached into her kunai pouch as Neji charged at her. She pulled out a scroll, laid it on the ground, and formed a ram handsign.

"Kai (Release)!"

Suddenly a large wave of water shot out of the scroll at Neji. Neji's face again twisted in rage.

"You think that will save you?"

Neji pushed his chakra forward, blasting away the water in front of him. However, as he released his chakra a sudden wave of pain shot through Neji, which combined with the now wet floor caused him to stumble, giving Hinata a chance to leap away once again.

Gai frowned. This wasn't like Neji. Neji was always calm and analytical, if a bit overconfident. This Neji was fighting purely with rage, and the curse seal was starting to respond to that. If this kept up…

Hinata formed several hand signs as Neji stood back up.

"Suiton: Suigadan (Water Style: Water Fang Bullet)!"

The water on the ground surrounding Neji compressed into four, swirling spikes that shot towards Neji from every direction.

'_No choice! It's not ready yet but I have to use it! I can't let her go!'_

Neji took a breath and tried to release chakra from every pore and spin around. A sphere of spinning chakra began to form around him. However, suddenly pain shot through him and the chakra emitting from the side of his body suddenly vanished, flowing into the curse seal. A hole in the chakra sphere opened up and one of the water spikes slammed into Neji. Fortunately, Neji's chakra forced it to widen from a sharp point to a blunt hammer, so Neji was sent flying instead of impaled. Neji desperately tried to stand back up, Hinata leapt in front of him, kodachi ready.

"P-Please surrender Neji-san. I don't want to h-hurt you."

However, the sight of Hinata offering him mercy was too much for Neji. Neji forced himself up and lunged at Hinata. Hinata easily stepped out of the way, slashing Neji with her kodachi. Neji fell to the ground, unable to move. Hayate stepped forward.

"Winner…"

"NO!"

Dark, purple chakra began to swirl around Neji and the curse seal began glowing and spread across his body. Hinata almost stopped breathing from the sheer hatred emanating from Neji. Neji leapt at Hinata one more time.

And then there were several puffs of smoke.

Several jōnin from Konoha stood, restraining Neji. Hayate stood in front of Hinata, a finger touching Neji's forehead. Gai shook his head sadly.

"Neji, give it a rest. You lost your head in this fight, and because of that you lost the whole fight."

Neji spat out blood.

Kakashi's eye narrowed.

"Neji, you realize by letting that curse seal out you've probably destroyed your ninja career. We can't trust you and I don't know if even Gai can help you at this point."

Hayate turned away as two ANBU showed up and carried Neji away, Gai following with his head hung low.

"Winner: Arashi no Hinata!"

* * *

><p>Naruto cheered as Hinata walked back up.<p>

"Yeah Hinata! That guy didn't stand a chance!"

Sasuke shook his head.

"No loser, Hinata got lucky."

Naruto glared at Sasuke.

"What do you mean jerk? She crushed that guy!"

Sasuke shook his head.

"Based on his speed and the fact he's a Hyūga trained in jūken he should have had the advantage. Something went wrong though. He lost his head and didn't think about what he was doing, charging in straight lines and trying to beat her attacks head on."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed.

"Also, Hyūga's are known for excellent chakra control. That guy's chakra was fluctuating even more than yours normally does. And then that chakra at the end, those markings, and the Konoha nin ending the fight when he got back up again. Something's not right here."

Nagato placed his hand on Sasuke's shoulder, shaking his head.

"You may be right Sasuke, but luck can be as important as skill. The ability to overcome such adversity is the mark of a chūnin and Hinata's opponent not only failed to do so, but lost his head and made the problem worse. He might have beaten Hinata on any other day, but the fact that he lost today and the way he did shows that he wasn't ready and he deserved to be eliminated. Hinata responded correctly and took advantage of the circumstances, which is what any good shinobi would have done, thus she deserved to win."

'_Though those markings and that chakra are quite worrying…."_

Nagato turned as Hinata rejoined them.

"Congratulations Hinata, you performed excellently."

"Yeah Hinata! Way to go!"

"Not bad, keep it up."

Hinata blushed at all the praise; even Sasuke had a kind word for her. She didn't feel she deserved to win, something was wrong with her opponent, but she appreciated the kindness nonetheless.

The jōnin from Otogakure who is obviously not Orochimaru shook his head and smiled.

'_Kukuku getting you to call on my curse seal was even easier than I thought. Who would've guessed you'd be placed against Kumo's little Hyūga and react with so much hate?'_

The scoreboard once again stopped, **Tsurugi Misumi vs. Kankuro**.

* * *

><p>Everyone watched as Hayate started the match. After the previous match, this one was relatively calm and professional. Misumi wrapped his body around Kankuro, only to be caught in a trap as Kankuro had replaced himself with a puppet which proceeded to break most of Misumi's bones. Fairly straightforward, no one had much to say as the scoreboard cycled.<p>

**Nara Shikamaru vs. Abumi Zaku**.

Shikamaru frowned. "Me eh…?"

Shikamaru shuffled to the center, hands in his pockets.

"Man…this sucks…"

Zaku smirked.

"Feel free to surrender if it's too much trouble, Konoha dog."

Shikamaru simply yawned.

"Please begin."

-Preliminary Round Eight: Shikamaru vs. Zaku-

Zaku immediately charged at Shikamaru, swinging his fist at the side of Shikamaru's head. Shikamaru blocked it, but Zaku grinned and opened his palm.

"Zankūha (Slicing Sound Wave)!"

Shikamaru was thrown across the room. Zaku smirked at him as he slowly got back up.

"Pathetic. Aren't you even going to try and protect yourself?"

Shikamaru shrugged. Zaku stuck out both his palms.

"Well then, since living is too much trouble for you, I'll end you right now! Zankū…"

Zaku stared in horror as his arms suddenly turned, point towards himself. He had already built up the pressure, so there was no way to stop the blast.

Shikamaru yawned as Zaku blasted himself into a wall.

"Probably should've blasted me full power the first time. Don't show your move if you aren't going to finish me with it, otherwise I can use it against you."

"Winner: Nara Shikamaru!"

* * *

><p>Naruto watched, eyes wide open.<p>

"Whoa, hey, Nagato-sensei, why did that Oto-nin blast himself?"

Nagato nodded.

"Didn't you notice Naruto? Shikamaru's shadow remained close to Zaku's after Zaku's first attack. Shikamaru was ready to take control of his body at any moment; he just waited until Zaku started his jutsu."

Naruto nodded.

"Wow, that's pretty smart."

Nagato watched the scoreboard.

"Indeed. Don't look now Naruto, but you might lose your little friend for a bit."

Naruto looked up at the scoreboard.

**Tsukiko vs. Temari**

Temari shook her head.

"All the shinobi here and I get the girl barely out of diapers…"

'_Though to be a genin at eight and make it through both of the last tests…I wouldn't be surprised if she's one of the strongest people here…'_

Tsukiko looked up at Naruto with sad eyes that ate at his soul.

"Mugyuu…Tsukiko has to leave onī-chan now…"

Naruto fought back the tears.

"D-Don't be sad Tsukiko-chan! I'll be right here for when you get back."

Tsukiko's face immediately brightened.

"Yay!"

With that Tsukiko leapt over the side of the railing…and immediately changed personalities upon touching the ground. She stoically and silently walked to the center of the room. Kōta and Sakura cheered her on.

"Go Tsukiko!"

"Come on Tsukiko-chan, beat this girl!"

"Please begin."

-Preliminary Round Nine: Tsukiko vs. Temari-

Temari immediately drew her fan and thought back to the encounter outside room 201.

'_If I remember correctly she had some talent in genjutsu. I better not let her get a jutsu off.'_

Temari swung her fan.

"Kamaitachi no Jutsu (Wind Scythe Jutsu)!"

* * *

><p>Everyone in the room held their hands in front of their face as a massive gale shot out from Temari's fan and engulfed Tsukiko. Naruto opened one of his eyes and saw countless flashes of light in the wind. He soon realized those were the slashes of invisible blades. He also realized there was no way Tsukiko could have escaped the jutsu.<p>

"Tsukiko!"

Nagato touched Naruto's shoulder.

"Keep watching Naruto…your friend is full of surprises."

* * *

><p>Temari narrowed her eyes as the gale started to die down.<p>

'_She should have been lifted into the air…and this jutsu lasts longer than this. What's going on?'_

Temari gasped as the wind died down and the dust settled. Standing unmoving and stoically was Tsukiko, completely unscathed. In addition, there seemed to be a blue glow surrounding Tsukiko.

Naruto's eyes widened.

"Whoa, what happened? How did Tsukiko survive that?"

Nagato kept his eyes fixed on Tsukiko.

"Naruto, you know about yin and yang chakra correct?"

Naruto furrowed his brow as he thought.

"Ummm, yin chakra gives form to nothing and is used to shape your jutsu. Yang chakra is full of life and brings your jutsu to life."

Nagato nodded.

"Correct, you use yin to form the jutsu and yang to activate it. Well, theoretically any jutsu can be stopped by either disrupting the yin shaping the jutsu or by stealing the yang powering it. However, no one I've heard of, except maybe the most talented Hyūga has the ability to do so. Tsukiko, however, has the most powerful yin chakra I've ever seen. When Temari's jutsu hit her, Tsukiko's yin chakra flared up. Tsukiko's yin chakra is so much stronger than Temari's that the yin chakra forming Temari's jutsu was annihilated."

Naruto's eyes widened.

"Wow, so you're saying…"

Nagato nodded.

"Ninjutsu won't work on Tsukiko unless you have equally strong yin chakra. What's more, do you see the blue glow around Tsukiko? That's actually the yang chakra that was powering Temari's jutsu. Tsukiko has so much yin chakra it's overpowering and hiding her yang chakra. When she destroyed Temari's yin chakra, the yang chakra had nowhere to go. But all things need balancing, and Tsukiko is so unbalanced towards yin chakra that the yang chakra from the destroyed jutsu was attracted and absorbed into her."

Even Sasuke's eyes widened at this point.

"So not only can she cancel ninjutsu, but she actually gains chakra when a ninjutsu is used on her?"

Nagato nodded.

"Correct, isn't it, Kakashi-san?"

Kakashi nodded.

'_He analyzed all that just from one look…I see the rumors about his eyes are true…'_

"You got it. You can't beat our Tsukiko with ninjutsu. You could even call it a perfect ninjutsu defense."

Hinata pressed her fingers together.

"W-Wow…she's so powerful…w-what about genjutsu or taijutsu?"

Kakashi eye smiled.

"You'll just have to wait and see."

Nagato turned back to Tsukiko.

"I can't say anything about taijutsu…but remember team, what is the specialty of a primarily yin chakra user?"

Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata's eyes all widened as they all thought the same thing.

'_Genjutsu!'_

* * *

><p>Temari scowled.<p>

"Well then, try this!"

Temari pumped more chakra into her technique, vastly increasing its power.

"Daikamaitachi no Jutsu (Cyclone Scythe Jutsu)!"

Temari smirked, but her smile turned to shock as once again Tsukiko stood in the middle of the wind, unharmed by the jutsu.

'_It's like she's stopping the jutsu around her…'_

Temari peered closer and noticed the blue glow. Suddenly the answer hit her.

'_No! She's not just surviving my jutsu! She's absorbing it! This is bad!'_

Temari folded her fan back up and charged at Tsukiko.

'_Well if ninjutsu won't work, I'll try taijutsu! She's significantly younger than me, so I should still have the advantage.'_

Temari's eyes widened in fear as Tsukiko formed a hand sign.

'_Not good! She still has all her chakra plus the chakra from my jutsu!'_

Tsukiko spoke softly, barely a whisper.

"Burn…"

Temari screamed as she suddenly burst into flames.

'_Calm down! This can't be real! This is genjutsu!'_

However, Temari's thoughts were soon drowned out by the intense pain. She fell to the ground, cringing and trembling. Hayate walked over and waited for half a minute.

"Winner: Tsukiko!"

* * *

><p>Tsukiko silently turned around and walked back up the stairs. Her stoic face turned into a massive smile once she got near Naruto.<p>

"Onī-chan look! Tsukiko won!"

Tsukiko ran up and tackled Naruto in a hug in celebration of her victory.

"Haha yeah, you did really good there Tsukiko."

Naruto had to wonder though.

'_I wonder if she's absorbing my chakra now…well she's not glowing or anything so guess not...that was a scary genjutsu though…I hope Tsukiko-chan never gets mad at me!'_

The scoreboard went through another cycle.

**Arashi no Tayuya vs. Haruno Sakura**

"Whoo! Go Sakura!"

Sakura smiled at Kōta's cheering as Kakashi gave her an eye smile and a thumbs-up. Sakura made her way down to the center.

"Please begin."

-Preliminary Round Ten: Tayuya vs. Sakura-

Sakura charged at Tayuya, forming several bunshin. Tayuya jumped back and smirked as she reached into her kunai pouch. Sakura frowned.

'_Is she going for a weapon?'_

To Sakura's surprise, Tayuya pulled out a flute.

'_A flute…that can only mean…!'_

However, Sakura realized the situation a moment too late as Tayuya began to play her flute. Sakura found herself bound by ropes and chains.

'_I can't move!'_

Sakura then stared in horror as her arm began melting away.

Tayuya smirked, and pulled a kunai out of her pouch. She walked over to Sakura, and stabbed the kunai into her side. Tayuya gasped, however, as Sakura burst into a cloud of cherry blossoms which began surrounding her. The cherry blossoms suddenly grew edges and began slicing Tayuya apart…

However, Tayuya morphed into a large demon like creature, which burst out of the cloud of cherry blossoms and charged towards Sakura…

* * *

><p>Naruto sweat-dropped. This battle was a bit less…exciting than previous ones.<p>

"Nagato-sensei…why aren't they moving? Sakura's just holding a hand sign and Tayuya's just sitting there playing her flute. Shouldn't they be fighting?"

Sasuke smirked at Naruto.

"They are, loser, can't you tell? Just look at all the chakra."

Naruto glared at Sasuke.

"I don't have a dōjutsu you jerk! I only have normal eyes."

Hinata pressed her fingers together.

"T-They're in a genjutsu battle, N-Naruto-kun."

Naruto's eyes widened.

"Genjutsu battle?"

Nagato nodded.

"Indeed, right now they're battling not in the physical world but in each other's minds. Each is trying to overpower the other and take control of an illusion world."

Naruto peered at the two girls.

"So…who's winning?"

Tsukiko popped up cheerfully.

"Sakura-onē-chan's winning right now, onī-chan, hehe! Look at all the genjutsu!"

Kōta smiled.

"All right! Go Sakura!"

Naruto sweat-dropped.

"I can't see genjutsu or chakra Tsukiko-chan…I just told Sasuke that."

Tsukiko once again stared at him as if he said he didn't know how to breathe. Kakashi watched the two girls, eye narrowed.

"It's true that Sakura currently has the upper hand, but Tayuya has several key advantages that are about to give Sakura trouble."

Kōta, Naruto, and now Konan and Team Water looked at Kakashi curiously.

"What do you mean?"

Kakashi nodded at Nagato, who explained.

"From what I can see, Sakura has near perfect chakra control, which is crucial to genjutsu. As such, she has the upper hand in a genjutsu fight. However, one doesn't need a dōjutsu to see the difference in Tayuya and Sakura's chakra."

Haku nodded.

"Our Tayuya has far more chakra than that girl; if this battle goes on much longer Sakura will start losing ground simply because she'll run out of stamina."

Kōta nodded solemnly.

"So Sakura needs to win right now…"

Nagato nodded.

"And that's not all. Tayuya won't just last longer. She realized Sakura has better chakra control, so she's pumping more chakra into her genjutsu to create more powerful and more complex illusions. Instead of using her superior control to gain the upper hand, Sakura's forced to use it to simply even the odds."

Kakashi nodded grimly.

"There's one more thing to. Look at Tayuya."

Everyone looked at Tayuya. Naruto looked confused.

"Wait, why are her eyes closed?"

Kakashi's eye narrowed.

"Sakura uses a more visually based genjutsu, while Tayuya is using a sound based genjutsu. The problem is, Tayuya can simply close her eyes, and Sakura's genjutsu becomes much less effective. On the other hand, the only way Sakura can cut off her hearing is to plug her ears."

Konan started to smile.

"But she can't do that without releasing her hand sign and she can't do that until she has Tayuya fully caught in her genjutsu."

Kakashi nodded again.

"Normally this wouldn't be an issue because closing your eyes in a normal battle situation is quite dangerous. However, in a one on one fight between two nearly evenly matched genjutsu specialists, where each is focused entirely on the illusion…"

Konan smiled even more.

"Tayuya has the complete and utter advantage."

* * *

><p>Everyone turned back to the two girls. Tayuya hadn't changed, but Sakura was breathing more heavily and sweating. Suddenly Sakura gasped and released her hand sign, then fell to her knees with her arms spread out.<p>

Kakashi sighed.

"Looks like it's over. Sakura's caught now…"

"Winner: Arashi no Tayuya!"

* * *

><p>Kakashi carried Sakura back up while Hayate began the next match, <strong>Aburame Shino vs. Yamanaka Ino<strong>. Kakashi spared a glance at Asuma and Kurenai, as their students were now competing directly. While the Kumo teams congratulated Tayuya, Kakashi stifled a chuckle; Ino was screaming like a little school girl as she was covered in a swarm of bugs. Shino sweat-dropped.

"You know, they aren't sucking your chakra yet…you shouldn't really be in any pain or anything."

Asuma hid his head in shame as Ino very quickly surrendered. Kurenai just smirked at him as she took the pack of cigarettes out of his pocket and threw them in a trash bin.

The scoreboard cycled once more.

**Akimichi Chōji vs. Arashi no Haku**

Chōji trembled. "Oh man, that's one of those Kumo guys. I should just quit now…"

Asuma smirked.

"So you're saying you don't want that all you can eat steak dinner?"

Kimimaro and Konan both smiled and nodded at Haku while Tayuya just grunted. Haku made her way to the center of the room.

"Please begin."

-Preliminary Round Twelve: Chōji vs. Haku-

Chōji suddenly expanded into a large ball, which his head and limbs then sunk into. Chakra blew out of the holes his limbs had vanished into and caused him to start rotating.

"Nikudan Sensha (Human Boulder)!"

Haku frowned.

'_All his pressure points are hidden, there's no way I can hit one of them this way.'_

Haku did a few hand signs as Chōji rolled at her. Chōji slammed into Haku, only for Haku to burst into water.

"Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu (Water Clone Jutsu)."

Haku appeared on the far wall, holding a hand sign.

"Sensatsu Suishō (Secret Jutsu: A Thousand Needles of Death)!"

The water around Chōji rose into the air, forming dozens of needles surrounding Chōji. The needles plunged into Chōji, but didn't pierce very far. However, when Chōji tried to roll towards Haku, he cried out in pain as the needles were driven farther into him.

"Please surrender, I don't wish to hurt you farther."

Chōji shrunk back down to normal size, trying not to move so that the needles wouldn't hurt.

"I surrender!"

Haku released her hand sign and the needles turned back into water, falling to the ground.

"Winner: Arashi no Haku!"

* * *

><p>Haku smiled at her team as she walked back up. Naruto and the rest of Team Fire went to congratulate her. Naruto then looked around, and turned to Kimimaro.<p>

"Good luck Kimimaro, there's only two left so you're up next! Hey, if you win we all go to the finals."

Kimimaro chuckled.

"Thank you Naruto-san, I shall do my best to make it so."

Tayuya scoffed.

"As if anyone could beat Kimimaro."

The Kumo teams looked down and saw sand swirling in the center of the room. Suddenly Gaara appeared in the middle of it.

"Get down here."

The scoreboard simply posted the final two names, rather than cycling.

**Sabaku no Gaara vs. Arashi no Kimimaro**

Kimimaro narrowed his eyes, and walked down to the center of the ring.

Naruto suddenly felt Tsukiko start trembling. She moved behind him, as if to hide from something.

"Tsukiko-chan, what's wrong?"

Tsukiko pointed at Gaara and spoke in a whisper.

"Bijū…"

Naruto's eyes widened.

'_No way…Suna has a jinchūriki too? Kimimaro might be in trouble!'_

Naruto went to tell to Nagato, but the fight had already begun…

"Sabaku no Gaara, it's an honor to fight you."

Gaara didn't respond except for a 'pft.'

"Please begin."

-Preliminaries Final Round: Gaara vs. Kimimaro-

A bone sword appeared in Kimimaro's hand from his sleeve, and he charged at Gaara. Kimimaro feinted left, then rushed to the right, slashing at Gaara's head. Kimimaro watched as sand shot out of the gourd on Gaara's back and blocked his strike.

'_A shield of sand? So his name's not just for show…'_

"Tsubaki no Mai (Dance of the Camellia)!"

Kimimaro started stabbing chaotically and continuously, hoping to confuse Gaara as to where the next strike would hit. However, Gaara's sand continued to block every strike and presented no openings.

'_His sand blocks my every move, yet he's barely watching me. I'm positive he didn't even see some of those slashes. No, it seems like he's not even consciously reacting to my attacks. Is his shield automatic?'_

Gaara's sand began spinning around him and Kimimaro, then shot at Kimimaro in a large wave. Kimimaro gracefully flipped over the sand, landing away from Gaara.

Kankuro watched.

'_He has some high level taijutsu, but that won't work on Gaara. All physical attacks are useless…'_

Kimimaro watched as the sand shot towards him.

'_Hm…a lot of chakra in that sand…I better not let it catch me. The sand protects him from physical attacks and then strikes back without him ever having to move, he's definitely not a short range type. Approaching him will be difficult…'_

Kimimaro did a series of flips as a hand, made of sand, shot across the ground. Kimimaro leapt up to into the air, spinning as the sand overshot him and swirled behind him. Small white bone tips appeared at the edge of his fingers, then Kimimaro swung his arm across his chest as he spun in the air.

"Tenshi Sendan (Digital Shrapnel)!"

* * *

><p>Kōta and Sakura watched with wide eyes.<p>

"Did he just…shoot his _fingertips_?"

Haku nodded.

"That is Kimimaro's kekkei genkai, Shikotsumyaku (Corpse Bone Chain). He is capable of controlling his osteoblasts and osteoclasts, allowing him to freely manipulate his skeletal structure. He can manipulate the number, size, shape, and density of his bones and immediately replace any he loses."

Sakura turned back to the fight.

"Wow, what an ability."

Haku nodded.

"Indeed, no one has ever defeated our Kimimaro."

* * *

><p>The fingertips buried themselves in a shield of sand that appeared before Gaara, but continued to push through. They continued to move as the sand pulled at them, slowing them down. The finger tips stopped mere inches from Gaara's face, where they fell out of the sand on to the ground.<p>

Kimimaro continued to flip and move away from Gaara's sand, launching more Tenshi Sendan at Gaara. This time though, the sand hardened itself and the fingertips stopped immediately. Lee watched as the battle raged for several minutes with quivering eyes.

'_Such graceful movement! There's not a single wasted motion! Surely this boy is a taijutsu master! But will it be enough?'_

Kimimaro looked up at a wave of sand, and didn't notice sand creeping along the ground. Suddenly several hands of sand shot up from the ground, surrounding Kimimaro.

'_This uses a lot of chakra but…'_

"Karamatsu no Mai (Dance of the Larch)!"

Sharp bone spikes popped out from all over Kimimaro's body, destroying the sand arms and creating an opening for Kimimaro to escape the sand. Kimimaro leapt over the latest sand wave, landing in between Gaara and the majority of his sand, and then charged at Gaara.

'_I'm moving and he's not, if this battle continues he'll gain the upper hand. It will use the majority of my chakra, but it's time to end this now…'_

As Kimimaro charged he opened his right hand. In his palm, a bone spike appeared, and begin twisting and growing. A massive bone spear, shaped like a cone like flower twisted and covered Kimimaro's right hand and forearm.

"Hana (Flower)! This spear is made from the hardest bones in my body, enhanced to the maximum solidity by my chakra. It will pierce right through you and your sand shield."

As Kimimaro charged, he closed his eyes for a moment and let out a cough. Gaara did not react as Kimimaro charged towards him, but made a single hand sign as Kimimaro coughed. Kimimaro then charged forward and pushed his bone spear in front of him. Sand surrounded Gaara, but as predicted the spear shot straight through the sand and plunged into Gaara.

Kimimaro's eyes narrowed.

'_There's…sand coming from that wound?'_

Kimimaro's eyes widened as Gaara's skin cracked and fell apart, revealing that 'Gaara' was an empty shell of sand. Kimimaro turned around to see Gaara appear in the wave of sand behind him, arms stretched out and palms point towards him. The sand shield Kimimaro had pierced quickly wrapped around him.

'_Darn, if only I hadn't stopped for a moment! Or if I had had more chakra…then I could've used Tsuru (Vine) first and immobilized him. I shouldn't have expected such a direct attack to work…even on someone trusting in their defense like that...'_

Sand engulfed and covered Kimimaro. Gaara closed his fists.

"Sabaku Sōsō (Sand Burial)!"

The sand surrounding Kimimaro imploded. Gaara narrowed his eyes, and then grabbed his head.

"GAH! Why won't you die?"

Inside the sand Kimimaro breathed heavily.

'_What intense pressure, if it wasn't for my bone mask I would've been crushed instantly. That being said, I've used up too much chakra; I don't have the strength to completely break out of this. What's more, if I don't get out soon I'll suffocate. It seems I'm beaten.'_

Kimimaro put his arm up and popped several bones out of his forearm. He put a tag on his finger, then shot a Tenshi Sendan. The fingertip traveled out of the sand and into the air, then the tag on it exploded into a flare.

* * *

><p>Konan's eyes widened.<p>

'_That's our SOS signal!'_

She turned to Nagato, who nodded and formed a hand sign.

"Right. Suiton: Mizurappa (Water Style: Raging Waves)!"

Gaara's eyes widened in shock as water cleared away the sand. Everyone gasped as Kimimaro stepped out, sand dripping out of several holes in his skin. Underneath each hole was a gleaming white layer of bone. Gaara grabbed his head as Konan and Nagato landed in front of Kimimaro.

"Ug! Why…? Why did you save him?"

Konan's eyes narrowed.

"He is my precious student and a fellow shinobi of Kumogakure. We will not let you kill him."

Gaara turned and walked away.

"That's enough."

"Winner: Sabaku no Gaara!"

* * *

><p>The Kumo teams were silent. Tayuya's eyes were wide with shock.<p>

"Kimimaro…lost?"

Naruto shook his head.

"He just fought a jinchūriki…the fact he's still alive is a victory."

All the Kumo kids looked at Naruto wide-eyed.

"If you're right then that's true, but how do you know that, loser?"

Naruto pointed at Tsukiko.

"I felt something strange about him, but it was Tsukiko who told me he had a bijū inside of him."

Everyone turned to Tsukiko, who was watching Gaara warily. Nagato seemed particularly interested in Tsukiko however.

'_So she can sense bijū…very interesting indeed…'_

* * *

><p>Hayate coughed as he called all the winners back in front of the Hokage.<p>

'_Whew, it's finally over…'_

"To all of you who won the right to compete in the third test of the Chūnin Exam, congratulations!"

Sandaime looked at the victorious genin, smiling.

'_Hm, there's six from Konoha, five from Kumo, and two from Suna…'_

Hayate turned back to Sandaime.

"Ah, well then, Hokage-sama, if you'd please…"

Sandaime nodded.

"Yes…well, now I'd like to start explaining the main test."

-Random other Building-

Orochimaru leaned against the support pillar of a building while Kabuto knelt in front of him.

"The Prelims have ended and they will begin the finals."

Orochimaru watched as some birds landed on a railing.

"By the way…it's become so serene…no…it's really become accustomed to peace in a time when it's said that the other countries are busy strengthening their forces."

Kabuto stood up.

"Could we take it now?"

Orochimaru smiled.

"Well, yeah. Though I'm not sure there will be much fun in taking the head of that geezer…"

Kabuto smirked.

"Is that so? It seems to me that you are still hesitant to act? From now on, the various villages will fight against each other in a long and intense battle…Otogakure is one of them. You intend to become the trigger to all of this…and he's the bullet for that purpose, isn't he? Hyūga Neji-kun, wasn't it?"

Orochimaru chuckled.

"Your intuition's a bit off. I do intend to become the trigger for all this. But Neji-kun has nothing to do with it."

Kabuto looked a little confused.

"Really now? Then what's he for?"

Orochimaru chuckled.

"My own amusement, what else? He's a fun subject to play with, and who knows? If things fall into place we might even get a Byakugan of our own."

Kabuto smirked.

"Heh, I guess even the Sannin need a little fun. I suppose you don't want me to kidnap him for you then?"

Orochimaru shook his head.

"If he'll join us, he'll come himself. If he doesn't, he's not worth as much as my right hand man and spy. Stay hidden if you want, it matters not."

Orochimaru's face curled into an evil grin.

"Because nothing can stop me now."

-Back in the Center Tower-

"As I told you before, in the main event, your matches will be seen by everybody. Each of you will fight to represent the strength of you countries. I'd like you to show off all your powers with no reserves."

Nagato sweat-dropped at that last part.

"Which is why the finals will be held one month from now."

Naruto looked confused.

"We aren't going to do it now?"

Sandaime shook his head.

"This break, you can say, will be for preparation. In other words, in addition to informing the various country lords and shinobi leaders, this is the time needed to arrange for the gathering of the event…"

Shikamaru deadpanned.

'_Wait, aren't "informing the important guests" and "arranging the gathering of the event" the same thing? Hokage-sama…"_

"And this is also the preparation time for you examination students."

Kankuro looked irritated.

'_This geezer, he always makes things complicated when he talks.'_

"I don't understand what you're trying to say! What does that mean?"

Sandaime took out his pipe.

"Basically, it's the preparation to get to know your enemy and yourself. It's the time period where you will calculate your chances of winning by analyzing the data you accumulated during the trial competition. The battles up to now had you fight as if you were in an actual combat situation with the assumption of fighting an unknown opponent. However, the final trial will not be like this. There are those who already showed all they can do to their rivals; there are those who competed and were badly injured against a strong opponent. To make everything fair, the one month should be used by all of you to advance and improve yourself. Of course, it'll be fine to rest your body as well. Well, I'd like to dismiss you now but there's something that has to be done for the finals before I can do that. There are pieces of paper inside of the box that Anko's holding so each of you take one."

Anko walked over.

"I'll come around, so wait your turn."

Naruto picked a card.

'_All right first!'_

"All right, you all took a piece; now then, I'd like you to tell us the number on that paper in order from left to right."

The genin did so and Ibiki recorded their names on a clipboard.

"All right now I will reveal to you the final tournament!"

Shikamaru looked shocked and angry.

"That's what we drew numbers for?"

Sasuke looked at him funny.

"Well duh, why else would they hand out random numbers?"

Shikamaru thought for a moment.

"Oh yea, guess that was kind of dumb of me…how troublesome…"

"Now Ibiki, show them the match arrangements."

Ibiki flipped the clipboard. The fights would be:

Arashi no Naruto vs. Aburame Shino

Rock Lee vs. Arashi no Haku

Nara Shikamaru vs. Arashi no Tayuya

Tennokoe Hisako vs. Tenten

Arashi no Sasuke vs. Sabaku no Gaara

And Kankuro vs. the winner of Tsukiko vs. Arashi no Hinata

Naruto's face fell.

'_Aw man the last match…I want to cheer for Hinata-chan…but then Tsukiko will be all sad and put me in a terrible genjutsu…or worse look at me with the sad eyes!'_

"Well then, you're free to start strategizing or resting as you like. With this I'll dismiss you all, but are there any final questions?"

Shikamaru raised his hand.

"Can I ask a question?"

Naruto dead-panned.

'_Noooooo I wanted to go already…this old guy talks too much!'_

"Since it's a tournament, it would mean there's only one winner, right…? Which would mean only one person can become a chūnin, doesn't it?"

Sandaime smiled.

"No! That's not quite it. There will be judges, including myself, the Kazekage, lords of various countries, and now the Raikage should he accept the invitation. Throughout the tournament, these judges will be evaluating your abilities and making recommendations to the appropriate Kages on who to promote. Therefore any and everyone here can become a chūnin, even if they lose their first match. Conversely no one could become a chūnin, not even the winner of the tournament. To advance in the tournament simply means that you will have more chances to appeal to the judges. Does that answer your question, Shikamaru-kun? Well then, thanks for the effort you exerted in these trials! You're all dismissed for a month!"

* * *

><p><strong>Jutsu List (It's long!)<strong>

**Sōshōryū (Twin Rising Dragons):** Tenten has two scrolls swirl in the air, then leaps in between and starts summoning and throwing a massive barrage of weaponry

**Shikyaku no Jutsu (Ninja Art: Beast Mimicry:** All-Fours Jutsu): The user becomes wolf-like, gaining faster speed and strength along with fangs and claws. Also causes the user to move on all fours.

**Fūton: Tatsumaki no Keimusho no Jutsu (Wind Style: Tornado Prison Jutsu):** Creates a stationary mini-tornado which captures and immobilizes an opponent in the air.

**Iwa no Yoroi (Rock Armor):** Creates a powerful armor made of rock around the user, increasing power and defense at the expense of speed.

**Raiton: Kagekiha (Lightning Style: Emotion Wave):** A small amount of electricity shoots from the users hand to a nearby conductive material, can be used to boost attacks.

**Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu (Fire Style: Grand Fireball):** User shoots a large fireball from their mouth. Standard Uchiha Jutsu.

**Iwa Bunshin no Jutsu (Rock Clone Technique):** Creates clones made of rock. They are slower than normal, but much tougher than other clones.

**Konoha Senpū (Leaf Whirlwind):** A series of high and low kicks. The high kicks are essentially a feint so the low kicks will connect.

**Genjutsu Kane Senbon (Illusion Bell Needles):** Bells that blur the target's vision, causing them to see multiple enemies.

**Suiton: Suigadan (Water Style: Water Fang Bullet):** Four spikes of water spring up and impale the target from all sides.

**Zankūha (Slicing Sound Wave):** Launches a blast of supersonic sound waves and compressed air to pulverize enemies and deflect attacks.

**Kamaitachi no Jutsu (Wind Scythe Jutsu):** Creates several vacuums in the air, causing the air to swirl and creating many small blades of wind to slice the target.

**Nikudan Sensha (Human Boulder):** The user grows much larger at the cost of many calories, then begins rolling at their opponent in order to crush them.

**Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu (Water Clone Jutsu):** Creates clones of water that turn into water upon destruction

**Sensatsu Suishō (Secret Jutsu: A Thousand Needles of Death):** Surrounds the target with thousands of needles of either water or ice. Can be done via one hand hand signs.

**Tsubaki no Mai (Dance of the Camellia):** A series of wild, chaotic sword strikes from unorthodox angles, confusing the opponent and leaving them open.

**Tenshi Sendan (Digital Shrapnel):** Kimimaro launches his fingertips at extremely high speeds, granting them penetrating power similar to modern firearms.

**Karamatsu no Mai (Dance of the Larch):** Bone spikes shoot out from all over Kimimaro's body, impaling anything around him while protecting him from attacks.

**Hana (Flower):** Kimimaro twists several of the densest bones in his body into a large spear covering his hand and forearm, increasing their density to the maximum. The spear can pierce through all but the toughest defenses, but Kimimaro is limited to a linear attack path while using it.

**Sabaku Sōsō (Sand Burial):** Gaara causes his sand to implode, crushing anything held within it with extreme pressure.

**Suiton: Mizurappa (Water Style: Raging Waves):** The user shoots a large stream of water out of their mouth.


	9. Chapter 8: My Hat

**Author's Note:** I'm back! Did you miss me? Of course you didn't. You didn't come for tivaahk with an old dovah. You came for fic. And fic you shall have. As to why it took this long...my roommate and i are kindred spirits...with Shikamaru. And Mount and Blade. That game's extremely entertaining.

* * *

><p><strong>Disclaimer:<strong> I don't own Naruto...or any other series I use. I'd say I own my ocs but I draw so much inspiration from other sources even that's unclear...

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 8: My Hat<strong>

* * *

><p>-Team Fire's Hotel Room-<p>

Nagato stood in the center of the room, his team watching him. They had strolled back to the hotel with Team Water, chatting excitedly, though Team Water had been a bit more subdued after the last fight. But now, it was time for business.

"First of all, congratulations to you all! Even making it this far is a major accomplishment, especially as rookies. Now, let's get down to business. To defeat your opponents, we'll need to do some strategizing. Luckily none of you are matched with each other initially, so we can plan our first matches together. For the most part you three have the jutsu to win I'd say, I'll teach you a few more but this month we should focus mostly on preparing for our opponents and just enough training to stay in shape. After all, one month isn't particularly long and you don't want to wear yourselves out, so we'll have to focus what we practice. The first match will be yours, Naruto. What do you know about your opponent?"

Naruto rested his head on his hand, thinking back to the preliminaries.

"It seems he's an Aburame, and quite skilled with their kikaichū…beyond that it's hard to tell. His match wasn't exactly long."

Nagato nodded.

"So Team, what can we determine based on that?"

Hinata pressed her fingers together.

"I-It looked like those b-bugs feed off his c-chakra…I don't t-think he can use any other n-ninjutsu."

Nagato nodded.

"Indeed, one of the weaknesses of the Aburame clan."

Naruto looked like he was focusing very hard.

"So…I don't have to worry about him using new jutsu?"

Sasuke shook his head.

"No idiot, you only have to worry about him not using any new ninjutsu…he can still learn new techniques with his bugs."

Naruto smacked his head.

"Oh right, hm…so how am I going to fight him?"

Nagato looked at Naruto.

"Well first, figure out what your opponent is likely to do, you've done that. Second, figure out what you're going to do to counter it."

Naruto once again appeared in thought.

"Um…he can use those bugs to drain my chakra and track me…so I should be careful about taijutsu and should forget about trying to hide from him. And I need some way to keep the bugs away from me…but I think my wind jutsu can do that and if not I always have my bijū cloak."

Nagato surprised Naruto by shaking his head.

"That's another thing Naruto…you said your bijū cloak resembles a fox, correct?"

Naruto nodded.

"Well, what major events occurred twelve years ago?"

Naruto thought again.

"Oh yeah! There was an attack on Konoha by the…"

Naruto stopped, and his eyes widened in realization.

"By the Kyūbi…in the form of a fox…"

Nagato nodded.

"Indeed…I imagine Konoha would be quite…sensitive to any reminders of that event. In any case, I won't specifically forbid you from using your bijū chakra, but you should avoid it if at all possible, and preferably just use the chakra and not the cloak. People shouldn't mind the chakra as much, but the cloak is far too similar."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed.

"Wait, if the Kyūbi vanished while attacking Konoha, how did idiot here end up with the fox sealed in him?"

Nagato shrugged.

"Who's to say it's the Kyūbi? There's multiple bijū out there and as beings of pure chakra they can appear how they like, or so we believe. It's possible there are more than one fox bijū out there…"

'_Thank goodness they don't know there's actually only nine known bijū…that always appear the same…'_

Sasuke nodded, still looking at Nagato with suspicion but accepting his explanation as the most likely at the moment.

"Anyways, yes to avoid confusion such as that, it'd be best if you could win without your fox chakra, Naruto. Indeed, you should have multiple chances to do so. With your massive chakra reserves, even if you are caught by Shino's bugs, it should take them awhile to drain you completely, so you'll have a last ditch shot to win even then."

Naruto nodded, thinking about his match.

"Next up is Sasuke. Sasuke, I won't lie; yours will be the toughest match."

Sasuke nodded.

"If loser's friend is right, that Gaara kid is a jinchūriki like loser here. I'm guessing that means he'll also have far superior chakra reserves and stamina and possibly even healing powers, so I won't be able to win a battle of attrition."

Nagato nodded and motioned for Sasuke to continue, as he appeared to be deep in thought.

"Not only that, but he has incredible control over sand and can control it without hand signs or even moving. It also seems to form an extremely fast shield that protects him. I'm pretty sure Gaara didn't see all of Kimimaro's attacks, so the shield might even be automatic."

Nagato nodded again.

"Excellent observations, I had come to the same conclusions myself."

Sasuke looked at Naruto and smirked.

"Hey, why doesn't your bijū give you any useful abilities like that, loser? This Gaara kid seems way better than you."

Hinata and Nagato restrained Naruto.

"You jerk! I can totally whoop that guy! And you too! Just watch me, dattebayo!"

Sasuke smirked a bit more then turned serious.

"So he can definitely beat me in a battle of attrition, he can simultaneously attack and defend without even moving, will crush me immediately if he catches me, and all this without actually revealing his bijū chakra or bijū cloak, which I have to assume he has like loser here…"

Nagato nodded slowly. Sasuke's eyes narrowed.

"So in other words, I need to take him out quickly and immediately to have a chance. But to do so will require an attack with both incredible speed to avoid his attacks and to prevent him from escaping like he did from Kimimaro, and incredible power to break through the sand shield and to take him out before he can activate his bijū chakra…"

Nagato again nodded. Sasuke paused.

"Channeling raiton chakra to my chokutō might do the trick, but it's risky and if he uses sand to stop my arm instead of stopping my sword he can still defend against that sort of attack. My katon jutsu might be able to turn his sand into glass for defense, but it won't work fast enough to take him out before he can respond. In which case…"

Sasuke looked at Nagato.

"I may need some new jutsu."

Nagato nodded.

"We'll see with what we can come up with. You might be able to use a combination of your current jutsu with your Sharingan to counter his sand. That being said, we'll use your Sharingan to teach you a few jutsu specifically for this match. Finally…"

Nagato turned to Hinata.

"Your match will also be a tricky one."

Hinata nodded and pressed her fingers together, a worried look on her face.

"I won't be able to use n-ninjutsu…and her yin chakra is so s-strong…I'll p-probably lose at genjutsu too…"

Hinata looked down sadly for a moment and thought. Naruto looked at her worried.

"What about taijutsu?"

Nagato looked in thought for a moment.

"It could work…however I foresee several issues."

Hinata nodded.

"Since she can absorb c-chakra, jūken might not work on her. E-Even if it could…her yin chakra is s-so strong…I c-can't see her chakra circulation system."

Sasuke and Naruto gasped as their eyes widened.

"Her chakra is that strong?"

Nagato nodded.

"Indeed, though you have more than just jūken."

Hinata nodded and Naruto realized Nagato was right. Hinata practiced not only her jūken, but also kenjutsu, and if she could keep up a constant kenjutsu offensive, she could prevent Tsukiko from using a genjutsu while negating Tsukiko's perfect ninjutsu defense. However, Hinata was not naturally aggressive, it would be a hard fight for her based on that alone. Plus, Naruto did not look forward to watching Hinata slice little Tsukiko to pieces as much as he feared the alternative.

"Well Team, it seems we have our basic strategies down based on what information we possess. Of course, it is not only possible but highly likely all three of your opponents will have some surprises waiting for you. Prepare well and make us proud, and show the world what the children of Kumo can do. Now who's hungry?"

Nagato chuckled as the three genins' stomachs suddenly rumbled, as if on cue.

-Streets of Konoha-

Team Fire walked through the village, searching for something to eat. Some of the villagers pointed at them as they chatted, most having heard of Kumogakure without ever seeing a ninja from there. A few villagers paused and took a second glance at the three genin, as if they looked familiar. However, only Nagato and possibly Sasuke noticed this, for the Team Fire genin were busy chatting. Though, Naruto was doing most of the talking, which explained why he didn't notice himself step into the path of a tall man.

"Oof! Hey watch where you're going, punk!"

Naruto was about to shake his fist in rage.

"Hey! You're the one who got in my way you…"

Naruto stopped as he looked up at who he was talking to. In front of him stood a tall man with waist-length, spiky hair tied in a pony-tail, red lines down his face, and a horned forehead protector with the character for 'oil' on it. Naruto's eyes widened.

"You're….you're…."

Nagato stepped forward, reaching into his pocket. The man grinned at Naruto's shock and began making a kabuki pose.

"Mt. Myobokugama's holy master sennin also known as the Toad Sennin!"

Nagato pulled his hand out of his pocket, holding a book.

"And author of my favorite book, _The Legend of the Gutsy Ninja!_,Jiraiya-sama!"

Jiraiya roared in laughter.

"Ha! I told them it would sell! You are now my third favorite reader!"

Nagato grinned and held out his book for Jiraiya to sign.

"Thank you, Jiraiya-sama. It is quite the honor."

Nagato turned to his team.

"Now, don't be shy team. Even I can function in the presence of my hero."

Jiraiya again roared with laughter.

"Indeed, while my mere presence makes women faint, you three have nothing to fear from me! So what's your name punk?"

Jiraiya ruffled Naruto's hair, breaking him out of his awe-induced shock.

"I'm Arashi no Naruto, the next Raikage dattebayo!"

Hinata shyly stepped forward, pressing her fingers together.

"A-A-Arashi n-n-no H-H-Hinata…"

Sasuke grunted, trying not to show his awe of the legendary Sannin.

"Arashi no Sasuke."

Nagato swore he saw Jiraiya's eye twitch on 'Naruto.'

"Hahaha named after the main character of my book! Maybe if you're lucky kid, some of my aura will rub off on you."

Naruto smiled.

"Really?"

Jiraiya grinned at him.

"Well anything's possible hahaha! Now if you'll excuse me I have some very important work to take care of!"

With that, Jiraiya made a hand sign and vanished in a puff of smoke. Naruto turned to Nagato, a large grin on his face.

"Am I really named after a character in a book written by the legendary Jiraiya, Nagato-sensei?"

Nagato opened his book, pointing to Naruto's name in the pages.

"Indeed, seems your parents were big fans of this first book. Just don't read any of his other books, let's just say the first is the best."

Naruto suddenly sniffed, looked around, and then his eyes widened. He pointed to a stand which had a sign reading 'Ichiraku Ramen.' Nagato sighed and shook his head.

"Very well, I suppose we can this time."

All of Team Fire chuckled as Naruto leapt into the air and shouted with joy.

-Under the Shadow of some Building-

Baki turned in surprise as he heard footsteps behind him. His eye widened in further surprise as he identified his visitor. Walking towards him was Yakushi Kabuto, who he knew as Orochimaru's main spy and right hand man.

"What are you thinking, coming to me in the middle of the day like this? Are you trying to get caught?"

Kabuto smiled and adjusted his glasses.

"Actually, the middle of the day is the best time. Most shinobi and citizens are busy eating lunch, while the ANBU have their hands full watching the crowds. Wouldn't want an incident with all those foreign ninja running around, would they?"

Baki grunted. It was a fair point, but Baki still didn't like it.

"Fine, but if it appears you are failing, we will withdraw. You came to us with this plan in the first place. Suna will stay in the background until the very end; this is the Kazekage's will. By the way, you realize nearly all the Kumo genin made it to the finals, correct? What do you plan to do about this?"

Kabuto again adjusted his glasses.

"Oh? An interesting result, not that the Exam results will actually matter…"

Baki grunted.

"Forget the exam, with so many Kumo genin reaching the finals, the Raikage or a sufficiently high ranking representative will have to come and observe. With several elite jōnin guards. Not to mention the 'New Sannin' already here as the jōnin sensei for the teams. With how few forces we could send in the first place and our inability to reinforce, this plan was already a gamble. If the strongest ninja from Kumogakure decide to get involved…"

Kabuto smiled.

"…Then we would surely lose. That is, _if_ they decide to get involved."

Baki watched Kabuto intently.

"You have a plan to deal with them?"

Kabuto shook his head.

"We won't need to."

Baki's eye narrowed.

"What are you saying? If your plan is to ignore such a massive threat, then we're pulling out. You obviously haven't thought this through."

Kabuto simply smiled.

"No, I didn't mean to say we didn't plan for them. Our plan _is_ to do nothing about them. You see, unless directly threatened, the Raikage has no incentive to intervene. Kumo and Konoha aren't exactly friends, so Kumo won't feel particularly inclined to help. Even more, they have incentive to see Konoha fall. After Konoha, Kumo is the next strongest village. With their power and so many of their genin getting to the finals, any of Konoha's business that can't be fulfilled by you, which given Konoha's population compared to yours is quite a lot, will most likely go to them. Not to mention the stronger international position as the new strongest village."

Baki nodded slowly.

"They do stand to gain from Konoha's demise. But simply appearing at the Chūnin Exams is more of an olive branch than Kumo's ever extended to Konoha. The Raikage may just as well use this as an opportunity to put Konoha in his debt. After all, he'll have only a few but very elite forces with him, he's unlikely to lose very much in the battle and could gain a powerful ally for minimal cost."

Kabuto again adjusted his glasses.

"Indeed, but an olive branch isn't the Raikage's intention. Haven't you noticed? All the genin from Kumo are from Kumo's new Arashi Adoption Program. We know they have more genin than that, but the Raikage decided to only send genin from that program. I imagine he's using the Chūnin Exams to shut up dissent at home about the program, rather than as a foreign policy move. Even more, my master recognizes three of the children as former Konoha kids that vanished several years ago, a slap in the face to Konoha who can't do anything about it due to their participation in the Exam. There's still a chance Kumo will interfere, but it's highly unlikely. Besides, no reward is without risks."

Baki's eye opened slightly, but remained narrowed.

"Fine, but it's still too risky for my taste. I'll present your arguments to the Kazekage and we shall see what his will is."

Kabuto held out a scroll.

"Very well, here are our plans. Also, it's about time they know about our plan, so please inform them."

Baki took the scroll and hid it within his clothing.

"Yeah…"

Kabuto turned and began walking away.

"Oh yes, by the way, let the Kazekage know Hanzō has agreed to our requests. That should alleviate any doubts he may possess. Well, I'll excuse myself then."

Kabuto walked away, leaving a wide-eyed Baki to shake his head and head off himself. As Kabuto and Baki both departed, neither of them noticed a squirrel gathering acorns in a tree overlooking their meeting place. A squirrel with concentric circles in its eyes.

Kabuto walked to the second floor of another building, where Orochimaru was waiting.

"So, how go things with our desert allies?"

Kabuto adjusted his glasses.

"Quite well. They were a bit intimidated by the presence of Kumogakure's shinobi…but with our third ally confirmed I think they'll stick with the plan.

Orochimaru chuckled.

"Well then, I suppose then the Kazekage may still have some use to us. Too bad, I was looking forward to our little rehearsal assassination."

-Office of the Hokage-

Sandaime sat calmly, eyes intent on the task at hand. His hands moved with expert skill and precision, forming his will into reality. He paused to observe his handiwork.

He let out a sigh. Truly, he should've been a painter.

Sandaime dipped his brush and was about to continue when he realized something was wrong. That something being the door to his office being torn apart by a powerful vortex of chakra, his ANBU guards flying to the side.

Sandaime's eyes widened as Jiraiya walked through the door, radiating enough killing intent to paralyze even an experienced jōnin.

'_Jiraiya? Using the front door? Something is horribly, horribly wrong.'_

"You have three seconds to explain yourself, Sarutobi-_sensei._"

Sandaime tried to look resolute in the face of imminent death standing before him.

"What's the meaning of this Jiraiya? What justification do you have for such behavior?"

Sandaime fell to the ground, struck by a wave of killing intent so strong it was almost physical. There was no helping it, all semblance of resolve vanished from his eyes, replaced with extremely justified fear.

'_Only one thing could've made Jiraiya so upset…'_

"Now Jiraiya, I can assure you this isn't what it looks like…."

Jiraiya grabbed Sandaime by his collar with his right hand and hoisted him into the air. Sandaime suddenly felt the full difference between their physical sizes, Jiraiya towering while he could only pray Jiraiya didn't snap him in half. Jiraiya formed a Rasengan in his left hand, holding it mere inches away from Sandaime's face.

"Oh really now? Thank goodness! Because it looks like Minato's son running around in a #$!-ing Kumo headband followed by an obviously _not_ Hyūga girl and a chibi-Itachi."

Sandaime's eyes flashed with fear for a moment, then he closed them and sighed, accepting his fate.

"Ok, maybe it is what it looks like."

Sandaime opened his eyes to find himself staring at the ceiling as he sailed through the air. His reverie lasted only a moment before he crashed into the Hokage's chair.

"What. The. $#!. What on _earth _have you been doing, Sensei? I heard the rumors. That Naruto vanished. That a blond kid the spitting image of Minato showed up in Shimo no Kuni (Land of Frost) as part of a Kumo team. But I dismissed them, despite all the evidence. I thought, 'Sarutobi-sensei would _never_ let that happen, it would be a betrayal not only of all his students and Yondaime but of everything Konoha's supposed to stand for.' I thought it must've been some clever scheme by you to hide Naruto and give him a normal life. I see now I've given you far too much credit, _sensei_. Unlike my teammates, I still believed. I still believed in the Will of Fire and the legacy of the Hokages. Prove it to me, Sandaime-Hokage. Prove to me that I was right and they were wrong. Prove to me that I shouldn't summon Ma and Pop, tell _them_ what you did, and abandon this village like the rest of the Sannin."

As Sandaime sweated and watched his very long life flash before his eyes, a gloved hand knocked on the remains of the door.

"Yo, Hokage-sama, Jiraiya. We just finished some training and thought we'd stop by. Looks like we got lucky and caught you still here, Jiraiya-sama. There's someone I want you to meet."

Jiraiya turned around and glared at Kakashi with a look of "if this isn't good you're next." Kakashi eye smiled and stepped to the side, pushing forward a small, dark-haired girl.

"Say hello to Jiraiya-sama, Tsukiko-chan."

Tsukiko's face remained unchanged, even in the face of a Sannin about to rampage.

"Hello…"

Color drained from Jiraiya's face and his eyes widened. Within a minute, he started trembling, and Kakashi could've sworn he saw moisture in one of Jiraiya's eyes. Kakashi kept his eye smile.

"What's the matter, Jiraiya-sama? You look like you just saw a ghost."

After a few minutes Jiraiya blinked and brushed at his eyes, stared at Tsukiko for a while longer, then patted her head and turned to Sandaime.

"You know, Sarutobi-sensei, I never thought myself even close to you. You were such a great man, and only a man equal or greater is worthy to lead the village. I couldn't even bring back my best friends. But I see now that mistakes were made. You've somehow lost both Konoha's power and its heart. That's why Orochimaru and Tsunade left us. But I won't stop believing that the Will of Fire can be rekindled. So you know what I'm going to do?"

Jiraiya walked up to Sandaime and poked him in the chest.

"I'm forcing you to stay here until the Chūnin Exams end. You get to take the fall when Minato's son rolls through Konoha's ranks. Then, I'm forcing you to retire. I thought I was doing the village more good with my information network, but strength abroad means nothing with trouble at home. You're going to go home and spend the rest of your life painting and watching me be a way better Hokage than you are at the moment."

Jiraiya stared at him with almost enough killing intent to actually kill him.

"You better be sorry for this. You know how much research I'm going to lose doing your job?"

Sandaime tried to give Jiraiya a weak smile.

"Can I at least keep the hat?"

Jiraiya snatched the hat off the Hokage, put it on his head, and grinned.

"Heck no! Getting to wear this is half the reason I'm taking this job! Now give me that crystal ball!"

-Hot Spring, Undisclosed Country-

"Ahhh…."

Shizune sighed in enjoyment as she lowered herself into the hot spring. It was wonderful to have a moment to relax when she and her master weren't busy running from creditors. Shizune didn't hear Tsunade enter the springs, however, and opened her eyes to see Tsunade trembling, a vein bulging in her forehead.

"What's wrong, Tsunade-sama?"

Tsunade's hands curled into fists.

"Pack your bags, Shizune. I have the strangest feeling there's someone in Konoha I need to kill."

Shizune watched, worried, as Tsunade turned around and stalked away.

'_Is she serious? Wow, could Tsunade-sama be getting over her grief?'_

Shizune sighed.

'_Well, looks like I won't get to rest. It'll be nice to see home though!'_

-Ichiraku Ramen-

"!"

Teuchi and Ayame chuckled at the young Kumo ninja devouring their ramen. He was on his seventh bowl with more on the way. Teuchi and Ayame couldn't help but feel a strange connection to the boy and were enjoying his patronage…the fact that he was continuously racking up Nagato's bill also didn't hurt.

Nagato suddenly stopped eating his ramen, his eyes narrowed.

'_This is serious…the Raikage needs to know about this immediately.'_

Nagato's thoughts were abruptly interrupted.

"ONĪ-CHAN!"

Naruto had no time to react and fell out of his chair as he was tackled by Tsukiko. Nagato turned to see the rest of Team 7 walking along the road, followed by none other than Jiraiya of the Sannin.

"Yo. Jiraiya-sama heard about your team's performance in the prelims and was curious. Jiraiya, may I introduce Arashi no Nagato from Kumogakure and his genin squad."

Jiraiya grinned and cut Kakashi off.

"No need for introductions! We already met earlier, this young man happens to be a fan of my amazing works of literary genius!"

Nagato stood up and shook hands with both shinobi.

"Well, amazing work of literary genius. Your later books somewhat disappointed me. But your first book was special; you could say I base my life off it in a way."

Jiraiya grinned even more and struck a kabuki pose.

"That's me! The legendary Jiraiya! Most holy sennin of Mt. Myobokugama! I change of the lives of shinobi worldwide with the power of my words!"

Sasuke deadpanned. '_He's worse than loser is…they must be related somehow…'_

Nagato and Kakashi chuckled.

"Now, to what do I owe the pleasure of seeing my idol twice today?"

Nagato glanced at Naruto being smothered in hugs by Tsukiko and Hinata trying desperately and unsuccessfully not to look bothered by the arrangement while Kōta and Sakura stood by, still shocked by Tsukiko's personality shifts.

"Though, I imagine there might have been other reasons as well."

Jiraiya chuckled.

"What a guy, and still so young! I envy him once he hits puberty!"

Jiraiya turned to Nagato, a more serious look on his face.

"I have an unusual request to ask of you."

Nagato's eyes narrowed as Jiraiya glanced back at Naruto.

"I'm listening, but remember my whole team and I are full shinobi of Kumogakure and as such I would be unable to fulfill many requests by a Konoha shinobi."

Jiraiya nodded.

"I understand, however…"

Nagato hid his surprise as he saw Jiraiya's eyes grow sad.

"This request isn't as one of Konoha's Sannin. It's a bit more personal…"

Nagato nodded slowly. '_I see, that's right…Jiraiya of the Sannin was the sensei of the Yondaime Hokage. I suppose he probably feels responsible for the whole ordeal with Yondaime's son. No harm in hearing him out…'_

"Very well, what is your request?"

Jiraiya cleared his throat.

"I'd like to spend some time with some of your team, Arashi no Naruto in particular…"

Nagato remained silent. Jiraiya seemed pained as he said 'Arashi no' but otherwise his tone of voice was sincere, and almost pleading. Nagato thought for a moment.

'_Hm…it's quite suspicious. But on the other hand, it's possible. If Sandaime Hokage had wanted to move against my team, he would've have done so already. To do so now makes no sense, the consequences would be even worse than before. Jiraiya is technically affiliated with Konoha but acts independently most of the time. However, Jiraiya is smart; he would also realize acting now would hurt Konoha more than help it. Jiraiya wouldn't be acting on Konoha's behalf. And if Jiraiya was acting independently, he wouldn't need to ask. It's not like I could stop him, especially not if he has Kakashi with him…'_

Nagato's eyes narrowed further and he frowned.

'_But on the other hand, can I really trust them? Jiraiya and Kakashi both have personal connections to Minato, so they might feel some obligation towards his son. On the other hand, Minato was Hokage, they may also see it as their duty to protect Konoha at all costs…not to mention Hinata and Sasuke. Kakashi might decide to blind two of our village's dōjutsu…'_

Kakashi eye smiled.

"Don't worry; I'll stay with them too. If you want, you can think of it as a joint training session between our teams. I swear nothing will happen to them, I'll protect them as if they were my own."

Nagato peered at Kakashi.

'_Heart rate seems normal, no abnormal movements, no signs of nervousness. No signs of deception. It would be incredibly helpful for my team if Jiraiya's sincere, and I do have a way to make Konoha pay if something does happen. Very well, I shall take a leap of faith._'

Nagato released a deep breath.

"Very well. But…"

Nagato narrowed his eyes and released a blast of killing intent that caused the genin nearby to pause.

"If _anything_ happens to them during this, I swear all of Konoha will know pain, and I will kill both of you myself."

Kakashi allowed himself to gulp, signaling he understood Nagato's threat.

'_And with the Rinnegan…I don't think he's bluffing…'_

Jiraiya nodded slowly and took out a scroll. He opened it and signed it before handing it to Nagato.

'_If Arashi no Naruto, Arashi no Hinata, or Arashi no Sasuke come to any harm while under the care of Jiraiya, Jiraiya will offer himself to the will of Kumogakure, along with any assets in his possession or under his control.'_

Nagato nodded slowly. The scroll had the seal of the Hokage on it, and would be enforceable by Konoha itself.

'_Hm, the seal is genuine. It would be a fair trade. A legendary Sannin for a jinchūriki and two kekkei genkai, not to mention that if the rumors about Jiraiya being Konoha's secret spymaster are true…a spy network of that size alone would more than make up for my team. And Konoha would be forced to go along with it; with the seal of the Hokage failure to deliver on a deal this big would mean a declaration of war with the blame of starting the war falling on Konoha. Given the wording of current alliances, their allies would not be obligated to help, it would be us and any allies we have vs. Konoha alone…'_

Nagato rolled up the scroll.

"Very well, I'll inform my team."

Nagato walked back over to the genin. Kakashi motioned for his team to step away. Naruto felt another part of his soul ripped out as Tsukiko walked away with her signature sad look.

"All right team, Jiraiya and Kakashi want us to have a joint training session."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes.

"Is that a good idea? Shouldn't we hide our techniques from Konoha ninja? Not to mention Tsukiko and Hinata will be fighting each other later…"

Nagato nodded.

"Indeed, however Jiraiya works independently most of the time. And the benefits of working with a Sannin, if he is sincere, more than make up for the risks. Especially since this is a training trip for you, not a promotion one. Besides, they'll be showing us their techniques too, so it's a mutually bad idea. I won't say whether we should or shouldn't, I leave the choice to you."

The three genin huddled together. Sasuke spoke first.

"Well, what do you guys think?"

Naruto nodded.

"Kind of weird, if you ask me. But, it's Jiraiya of the Sannin! Imagine what amazing jutsu he could show us, dattebayo!"

Sasuke shook his head.

"I doubt it's that simple, loser. What do you think, Hinata? You're fighting Tsukiko in the first round, so this affects you the most."

Hinata pressed her fingers together.

"W-Well, Nagato-sensei will be w-with us, right? It c-couldn't hurt to try…"

Sasuke thought for a moment.

"Hm, I guess. Shall we give it a try then?"

Team Fire all nodded and walked back to Nagato.

"Ok, we'll do it."

Nagato nodded.

"Very well."

Nagato turned to the Konoha ninja.

"Very well, we shall train with you today then."

Suddenly there was a blast of, it felt like, happiness? It seemed like killing intent only opposite in nature.

"Onī-chan gets to come with us? YAY!"

Everyone chuckled as Tsukiko practically exploded with happiness. Nagato hung back to pay the bill as the teams began to walk off together. After paying the bill, Nagato took a sudden turn and stopped in an alley.

"Kuchiyose no jutsu!"

A small bird appeared in front of Nagato. Nagato wrote quickly on a small scroll, then placed it in a container and tied the container to the bird's leg.

"Take this to Raikage-sama."

Nagato watched as the bird flew away, then turned to catch up with the group.

-Konoha Hospital-

Hiashi walked into the hospital, without a word. The receptionist knew immediately why he was here; one did not simply receive a visit from the Hyūga clan head without purpose. A nurse walked him through the hospital to a small room on the far side of the hospital. Outside, an ANBU stood guard. The ANBU moved to the side as Hiashi approached and the nurse motioned to him, there were some people not to be questioned and Hiashi was one of them. The nurse opened the door and let Hiashi in.

Hiashi walked in, eyes closed. Lying on the bed was Hyūga Neji. The nurse quickly slid in and placed a couple flowers, presumably from Neji's teammates. The hospital staff waited for a clan member to arrive before Neji was allowed any visitors, standard procedure for famous clans.

"What do you want? Leave me alone."

Hiashi opened his eyes.

"Neji, you lost your head, and lost your match in the preliminaries. Even more, you unleashed a curse seal, a kinjutsu developed by the traitor Orochimaru. You've brought great dishonor to…"

"Don't give me that!" Neji snarled.

Hiashi paused.

"What is the meaning of this…?

Neji's eyes narrowed.

"You and the rest of this accursed clan! You go on and on about duty and honor and sacrifice! Well then, explain to me why _you_ sacrificed my father and then spit on his memory!"

Hiashi's eyes narrowed slightly.

"What do you mean? Your father did more than his duty that day…in fact, he…"

Neji nearly leapt off the bed.

"Don't lie to me! You sacrificed my father to 'protect the clan' you say! Then why is there a Byakugan in Kumo? Why did my father have to die if nothing changed and they got what they wanted anyways?"

Hiashi looked visibly shocked and took a step back.

'_Byakugan? Kumo? Could it be?'_

Hiashi turned around and left deep in thought, whatever he meant to say forgotten. Neji sat back down.

'_So that's it? Not even going to try and feed me main branch lies anymore? Fine, I've had enough of this clan. I can't fight my destiny, but if you aren't going to bother any more then I won't either.'_

Neji's eyes narrowed more as he sensed someone in the room.

"What? Going to kill me now that I'm no longer useful to the main branch?"

A shinobi wearing a forehead protector with a musical note on it stepped out of the shadows.

"Kukuku…no Neji-kun. I just wanted to have a little chat…"

-Training Field-

Jiraiya took Naruto off to the side as the rest of the teams did some stamina drills under Kakashi and Nagato. Well, mostly Nagato, with Kakashi off to the side reading his book. New motivation for teaching fails once there's someone else to do it for you after all. Jiraiya explained that from what he sensed, Naruto had far more stamina than everyone else, thus stamina exercises designed for the group were simply too easy for him.

"So kid, how's life as a shinobi going?"

Naruto looked at Jiraiya suspiciously. While he was trying his best not to jump for joy at the attention of a Sannin, he couldn't help but wonder why Jiraiya was so interested in him.

"Not bad, it's hard sometimes but I have lots of friends back home who support and help me."

Naruto thought he saw a flash of guilt cross Jiraiya's face, but brushed it off as his imagination.

"By the way, why are you helping us? Aren't Konoha and Kumo normally enemies?"

Jiraiya nodded. '_Wow! He's smarter than I thought he was going to be! Maybe he got something from Minato… Kushina's going to come back and kill me for that…'_

"Excellent question, but the most holy sennin of Mt. Myobokugama can surpass the boundaries of mere mortal governments! Besides, you remind me of, well, the son of a close friend of mine. He unfortunately died, but I need to pass on his legacy and frankly, no one in Konoha could get this jutsu."

Jiraiya held out his hand. Suddenly chakra appeared and began swirling into a sphere that looked like a mini-hurricane. Naruto watched wide-eyed as Jiraiya slammed it into a boulder, completely destroying the giant rock.

"Whoa! That's so cool! Please, please, please teach me, Jiraiya-sama!"

Jiraiya suppressed a chuckle. _'Hahaha one cool jutsu and he forgets I'm from Konoha. He's Kushina's kid after all!'_

"Haha hold on there! This jutsu is, on a six grade scale, just above the second A-rank ultrahigh grade level difficulty. So far I haven't found a single shinobi in Konoha to fully understand it. Not even Yondaime Hokage fully completed the jutsu. But to let it go would be such a waste; I'd say if you can master it, then you deserve to have it. Even if you're from another village. Here."

Jiraiya tossed Naruto a water balloon.

"I assume you know the basics of tree-climbing and water-walking, right? Well, to fully understand this jutsu means to be able to read the 'elements' and predict the outcome. First, use the principle of 'tree climbing' chakra by maintaining a moderate amount of chakra in your hands, and then the principle of 'water walking' by releasing it continuously."

As Jiraiya spoke he held a water balloon in his hand, and popped it by swirling the water with his chakra.

Naruto smiled and held up the water balloon.

"I get it! So then I spin around the chakra until the balloon pops! I'll have this in no time!"

Jiraiya smiled.

"You'll eventually get good at this! All right…let's train 'til night!"

Naruto raised a fist in the air.

"Yeah!"

Jiraiya chuckled and walked over to Kakashi while Naruto proceeded to attempt the training.

"Ah, training that boy; brings back more memories than I can count."

Kakashi eye smiled.

"Truly his parents' child. Is it really a good idea to teach him Rasengan, Jiraiya? I know how you feel, but we have different loyalties to fulfill; he has a different life and his own teachers now."

Jiraiya shook his head as he leaned against a tree.

"Probably not, but I don't care. I ignored my duty to himand his family in order to fulfill my duty to Konoha for twelve years now. I made mistakes and he's the one that suffered for them. I owe it to Minato to pass down his legacy; I owe it to Naruto to give him what's rightfully his and make up for my mistakes. I'm going to take a leap of faith and if it comes back to bite me, so be it."

Kakashi nodded slowly.

"It's your choice, you knew Minato best so you'd know what he'd want. I can't argue with you, if I had the chance to fulfill my debt to Obito, I'd probably take it too."

Jiraiya grinned and shook his head.

"Watch what you wish for, Kakashi."

Kakashi glanced over at where the rest of the genin were training.

"Indeed…"

Jiraiya chuckled.

"You know technically I'm Hokage now, I could give you permission if you want."

Kakashi shook his head.

"It's out of my hands now. Your jutsu belongs to Minato and is rightfully Naruto's. Mine…well I doubt there's anything I could give in good conscious that Arashi no Nagato couldn't…"

Jiraiya nodded as he watched Nagato.

"We may have messed up, but at least they're in good hands. He seems to have both the power we have and the heart we lacked."

Jiraiya chuckled.

"Funny world, I passed my Will of Fire to an orphan from Ame, only for him to pass that Will to the godson I should've."

Kakashi nodded.

"Indeed it is."

-Raikage's Office-The Next Day-

The Raikage was busy reading a mission report, while lifting weights of course, when his assistant Mabui burst through the door.

"Raikage-sama! Urgent message from Nagato, top priority."

The Raikage put down the mission report and held out his hand. Mabui tossed him a scroll. The Raikage stared at it for a minute.

"Hm…prepare your Tensō no Jutsu (Heavenly Transfer Jutsu). Nagato will need a response immediately. Also, tell C, Darui, and Yahiko to prepare for a trip. We should receive an invitation from the Hokage shortly…"

-Kumo Teams' Hotel-Late at Night-

Konan and Nagato stood in Team Fire's living room, glancing over at the room in which Team Fire slept. Suddenly, a narrow beam of light shot into the center of the room, revealing a small scroll.

"That's Mabui's Tensō no Jutsu…What does it say, Nagato?"

Nagato quickly read the scroll.

"A response…"

Konan looked at him, puzzled.

"A response?"

Nagato nodded.

"You remember the Oto jōnin that was obviously not Orochimaru in disguise at the preliminaries? Well, I had a hunch, so when he left the room I had a squirrel summon follow him. He actually was Orochimaru, and that genin named Kabuto is actually an Oto spy. Well, I had my summon follow Kabuto for a bit, and he went and met with the jōnin from Suna. They're planning a joint invasion of Konoha during the final round of the exam."

Konan gasped.

"What are we going to do?"

Nagato held out the scroll to her. Konan took a moment to read it and nodded.

"Do you think it will work? Konoha is very large…and they'll have the home field advantage…"

Nagato looked contemplative for a moment.

"Suna won't be able to move additional forces close to Konoha without tipping off the ANBU…whatever they send initially will be all they have. Oto should be able to attack with their full strength given no one knows where they are and they have Orochimaru, who knows Konoha inside and out. But Oto's new…they can't have very many men and they won't be very experienced in this sort of thing no matter how well prepared they are. They're going to counter this with Suna's jinchūriki attacking from within Konoha and likely Orochimaru's summons attacking from outside."

Konan nodded.

"It sounds close, but I'd say Oto and Suna have a slight advantage if everything goes well for them."

Nagato also nodded.

"Normally I'd agree, but there's two more things that will change the battle."

Konan tilted her head slightly.

"What do you mean?"

Nagato took a breath.

"Jiraiya of the Sannin is back in Konoha. I didn't catch all of it as Kabuto had begun walking away towards the end, but I heard him mention 'Hanzō' to the Suna ninja."

Konan nodded slowly at this. '_Jiraiya can easily counter the snake summons, the jinchūriki, or Orochimaru himself. But, if Hanzō is present, even Jiraiya might not be enough.'_

"So Konoha would be destroyed, albeit at high costs to the invaders. Unless we were to intervene…"

Nagato looked serious.

"We could crush Konoha all together, or we could grant Konoha a needed victory. The question is: Where do we stand to gain the most?"

Konan let out a deep breath.

"Konoha is our historical enemy; shouldn't we try to destroy them?"

Nagato shook his head.

"In the world of shinobi an enemy today is an ally tomorrow. Historical friendships and rivalries matter less than the situation on the ground. We need to consider more than the past. For example, if we helped the alliance we wouldn't actually impact much. Most of the strong Konoha ninja will already be occupied and the summons and jinchūriki would do far more widespread damage than we could. We'd be extraneous, and the alliance wouldn't be obligated to us in any way. In addition, the destruction of Konoha would create a massive void in the balance of power. The alliance would rush to capture Hi no Kuni, but after the attack wouldn't have the manpower to hold it, especially not with whatever remnants of Konoha waging a guerrilla war against them. Iwa and Kumo would not be able to ignore this, and we would both have to launch full invasions of Hi no Kuni. The result would be the Fourth Shinobi World War. At first we would have the advantage, but eventually Iwa would remilitarize as we have with the war to fuel it. In addition, if Kiri finishes their civil war they would be able to land on our coasts and cut off Kumo from its invasion force. We would have to leave troops behind to watch the beaches, just in case. This would reduce our advantages, leaving a stalemate between Iwa, Kumo, and the Suna-Ame-Oto alliance with Konoha's remnants wreaking havoc on all sides through hit-and-run tactics."

Konan nodded slowly, continuing the analysis.

"It would be a bloodbath. But if we aided Konoha, we could tie up the snake summons, the jinchūriki, Orochimaru, the Kazekage, or Hanzō. Raikage-sama, C, and Darui could tie up a few more. With Jiraiya present, we would tip the battle back in Konoha's favor. Konoha would be damaged and weakened, but not destroyed. Konoha would also be entirely in our debt as no one would argue our aid was key to their survival. Using minimal resources and suffering few if any losses, we would put our greatest enemy at our command. Ame would return to isolation and Oto to the shadows. Suna, to save itself, would accept any demands Konoha made, but given Konoha's position its demands would have to be approved by us."

Nagato read over the Raikage's scroll once more.

"I think it's time to have a chat with the Hokage."

-Office of the Hokage-The Next Morning-

Sandaime walked over to his desk, lowered himself into his seat, and let out a sigh. Today promised to be a long day, as the village needed to prepare for the Third Exam on top of all the daily work. As Sandaime wondered why anyone in their right mind would want this job, he heard a knock on the door.

"Hokage-sama! Arashi no Nagato of Kumogakure has requested a meeting!"

Sandaime's eyes widened a bit, then narrowed. '_I wonder what this could be about. It's too late for an offer of peace…'_

"Send him in."

The door opened and Nagato walked into the room, bowing respectfully to the Hokage. Sandaime motioned for him to stand up.

"Good morning, Nagato, what may I help you with?"

Nagato looked grave.

"The survival of your village. I've uncovered information that leads me to believe Konoha will be attacked during the Third Exam."

Sandaime's horror was only matched by his shock that it was a Kumo ninja telling him this. His eyes narrowed even more.

"What makes you believe this?"

Nagato continued.

"I discovered that the new village, Otogakure, is under the command of Orochimaru of the Sannin, who is present in the village somewhere. Working for him as a spy is the genin Yakushi Kabuto. Kabuto met with a Suna jōnin and discussed the attack. I have no further details but Kabuto mentioned the name Hanzō during their conversation."

The Hokage closed his eyes for a moment. The Suna nin was untouchable lest Konoha start a war itself, but Kabuto could be brought in for questioning. Orochimaru's presence was confirmed by Anko during the Second Exam, suddenly everything made sense.

"I see. Thank you for this information, Nagato, you've probably saved a lot of lives today. However, I am curious. Kumo and Konoha have never been friends. Why help us now?"

Nagato paused for a moment and made a hand sign.

"Kumo and Konoha may not be friends, but neither of us benefit from the Fourth Shinobi World War, which is what Konoha's destruction heralds. Take care, Hokage-sama.

With that, Nagato's clone dispelled itself, leaving Sandaime deep in thought.

-Streets of Konoha-At the same time-

Team Fire got up and ready; prepared for a day of individual training. They left and were on their way to the training grounds set aside for foreign ninja when Nagato's eyes narrowed.

'_Uh oh…this won't be good.'_

Nagato tried to subtly turn his team around but it was too late, they had been spotted and he was heading right towards them.

'_Ugh, can we please not do this again? We don't need another affair…'_

"Good morning to you, Arashi no Nagato."

Nagato turned and gave a polite bow.

"Good morning, Hyūga Hiashi."

Nagato almost winced as he saw his team move to introduce themselves.

'_Why must you be so polite?'_

"Hey, I'm Arashi no Naruto!"

Hinata stepped forward, fingers pressing together. Nagato would've closed his eyes if he didn't need to be ready. He began channeling chakra to his feet, ready to react.

"A-Arashi no Hinata."

A flash of emotion shone in Hiashi's eyes, but only for a moment.

"Arashi no Sasuke."

Hiashi gave them a bow.

"Good morning to you all and congratulations on making it to the final exam. I look forward to seeing you all perform. Especially you, Hinata-chan. It's not every day someone beats Neji, genius of our clan."

Hinata gave a nervous bow.

"T-Thank you, Hiashi-sama."

Hiashi looked as if he were holding something back. He turned to Nagato, unable to hide the combination of anger and sadness in his eyes.

"You must be very proud; you have three fine, young shinobi. Well, I have business to attend to, so I will let you be on your way. Good luck to you all."

Team Fire bowed and thanked Hiashi, then continued on their way as he walked on. As Nagato let out the breath he was holding, a single tear rolled down Hiashi's face.

-Office of the Hokage-Later that Day-

Sandaime sat at the desk, rubbing his temples as Jiraiya stood by the window. Both of them turned as Kakashi appeared in the room in a puff of smoke and bowed.

"Hokage-sama, you requested me?"

Sandaime sat up and let a puff of smoke out of his pipe.

"Yes…this morning Arashi no Nagato tipped me off to a possible attack on Konoha by Suna, Oto, and Ame to take place during the Third Exam. I'll alert the ANBU to be on the lookout. Jiraiya, tell our spies to watch for any suspicious activity in their assigned countries. We can't cancel the Chūnin Exams based on a verbal warning, but we have to be ready for the worst. Kakashi, assemble the jōnin. We need a plan for if something happens. Let's increase the patrols during the Exam, and have a clear evacuation plan for the village. Double check the new alert system and make sure it's functional."

Jiraiya closed his eyes and crossed his arms.

"If we increase patrols during the Exam, we'll have less men to watch the arena…is that wise?"

Sandaime nodded.

"We'll have some ANBU, not to mention all the jōnin sensei with genin in the finals. They'll have to be enough if something happens. Besides, the Raikage and his guards will be there and it was one of his shinobi that tipped us off. If someone's strong enough to intentionally attack the arena, a few extra chūnin or ANBU won't make a difference…"

Jiraiya nodded.

"Fair enough, but it's still a gamble. Plus the loss of reputation we'll have if our guests have to fight."

Sandaime grunted.

"Maybe, but if everything Nagato said its true simply surviving this attack will be hard enough…"

-Kabuto's Room-Later that Day-

Kakashi looked around as ANBU searched the room. This kid was nothing if not thorough. On one hand, the ANBU had yet to turn anything up, but if Kabuto was innocent then where was he?

On a building across from Kabuto's room, Kabuto and Orochimaru observed the search.

"Kukuku…it seems they finally caught on to you."

Kabuto smirked.

"I guess I was a bit careless. Still, I'm sure no one from Konoha ever saw me, I wonder how they figured it out?"

Orochimaru smiled.

"No matter how they did, I'd say this game just became a lot more interesting."

-Team Fire's Room-Later in the Month-

Team Fire was resting, calmly eating dinner after a day of training. Their dinner was interrupted when Konan slammed open the door.

"Nagato, come quick! Bring Hinata, something's wrong with Kimimaro!"

Team Fire rushed into Team Water's room. They found Kimimaro sitting down, looking at some blood he had coughed up on his hand… Haku crouched by his side, trying to help him, while Tayuya stood to the side, watching wide-eyed. Nagato helped him up and placed him on the nearest bed.

"I know you've only started learning medical jutsu, Hinata, but could you try and figure out what's wrong here?"

Hinata stepped forward nervously.

"I-I'll try."

Hinata made a ram hand-sign and activated her Byakugan. She then walked up to Kimimaro and started an analysis jutsu.

"W-Wow, his body structure is completely d-different from a n-normal person's. He'd p-probably need completely n-new treatments…um it s-seems like a d-disease that's attacking his l-lungs…"

Hinata focused very hard on Kimimaro. She closed three fingers on each hand, leaving only her pointer and middle fingers sticking out, and began poking Kimimaro in a few places.

"Um…I r-redirected some of his c-chakra towards his lungs…h-his kekkei genkai seems to give him s-some regeneration so i-it should help stabilize him. I d-don't really know enough to d-devise a treatment…but C-sama s-should be coming with Raikage-sama….if he r-rests C-sama should be here in t-time to help…"

Tayuya's eyes widened.

"You can see tenketsu?"

Hinata nodded slowly.

"Only if I f-focus very hard and even t-then it's too hard to use in b-battle…b-but when someone's staying s-still like this…"

Konan let out a sigh.

"Thank you, Hinata. I'll try to find some general medical supplies, maybe some immuno-boosters."

Hinata bowed slightly. Nagato nodded at Konan and motioned for Team Fire to leave. Nagato placed a hand on Hinata's shoulders.

"Good work, Hinata. You've done all you can, and given him a chance. We can only hope Kimimaro has the will to survive until C arrives."

-Streets of Konoha-The Next Day-

In light of Kimimaro's condition and the team's training, Nagato gave his squad the day off and watched over Kimimaro while Konan searched for medical supplies. Naruto and Hinata decided to explore the town a bit, dragging Sasuke along. Their conversation was continuously interrupted by…

_POP!_

"Darn! Not again!"

Hinata patted Naruto's shoulder as yet another balloon popped in his hand.

"It's ok, N-Naruto-kun. I'm s-sure you'll get it soon…"

-Flashback-

BAM!

"_Whoohoo! Finally popped that ball!"_

_Jiraiya smiled and walked over._

"_Not bad, now for the third stage!"_

_Jiraiya pulled out a balloon and blew it up, then handed it to Naruto._

"_But wait, Jiraiya-sama. I could pop this so easily now!"_

_Jiraiya smiled._

"_Indeed you could." Jiraiya held up another balloon. _

"_This is what you're doing now."_

_Naruto looked puzzled._

"_But nothing's happening…"_

_Jiraiya held up his other hand._

"_Hm…you won't be able to see it when I'm holding the balloon. It's the same thing that's happening in my left hand. What is inside the balloon?"_

_Naruto watched in surprise as Jiraiya's chakra formed into a powerful, swirling chakra typhoon in his left hand, yet into a perfect sphere the size of the balloon. Naruto's jaw dropped a bit._

"_Is what's inside the balloon on your right hand the same thing as what is in your left hand?"_

_Jiraiya nodded._

"_Yep!"_

_Naruto closed his mouth._

"_Wow…"_

_Jiraiya smiled and continued._

"_The main point of the third stage is to bring out one hundred percent of what you've learned so far and to maintain it. In short, you not only have to keep the spinning and power at its greatest, you also have to make a layer inside the balloon and compress the chakra energy inside that."_

_Naruto shouted._

"_I get it! So basically, do up to the second stage while maintaining the spinning power but at the same time not cutting the balloon!"_

_Naruto looked confused a moment later._

"_But why is that important?"_

_Jiraiya let out a hm, then walked over to a nearby tree._

"_Here's what you can do with the second stage."_

_Jiraiya made a spinning disk of chakra and slammed it into the tree. A large spiral pattern appeared in the bark._

"_Now here's what you can do with the third stage."_

_Jiraiya made the small sphere of spinning chakra and slammed it into the tree. The sphere bored into and created a large hole in the tree, bark, wood, and all._

"_You have to be able to maintain this "small typhoon" in a palm-sized sphere. You can't scatter your power. As you hold the size down, the spinning gets faster and the power gets compressed, ultimately increasing its destructive power!'_

-Present-

Naruto tried again, but the balloon popped once more.

"Darn it! This is entirely different from the first two stages!"

Sasuke grunted.

"Well duh, loser. You're being taught a jutsu by one of the Sannin. Did you expect it to be easy?"

Naruto glared at Sasuke but realized he was right, and pulled out another balloon. Naruto used his right hand to swirl the chakra, focusing with all his will to keep the chakra maintained. He actually held it for several seconds longer than normal when Sasuke suddenly looked behind them, and then stepped to the side. '_3…2…1'_

"Onī-chan!"

_POP!_

Naruto's balloon popped, releasing spirals of chakra as Tsukiko tackled him from behind.

"Ouch…oh hey Tsukiko, what are you doing here?"

Tsukiko looked at Naruto, face beaming.

"Kakashi-sensei gave us day off! So Tsukiko decided to find onī-chan! Can Tsukiko stay with onī-chan? Pleeeeaaaasssseeeee?"

Naruto tried to look away but it was too late. Tsukiko's cute, little, begging eyes peered up and grabbed on to his soul, daring him to say no.

"W-W-Well I guess, as long as it's all right with Hinata-chan…I'd say jerk too but he's mean."

Hinata stammered and entertained the idea of saying no. Then, her eyes met with Tsukiko's, staring at her as if she held Tsukiko's life in her hands. She was suddenly and uncomfortably aware of how young and adorable Tsukiko was.

"I-I-I g-g-guess y-you can…"

Naruto was suddenly thrust to the ground again.

"Yay! Tsukiko gets to be with onī-chan and his friends! Thank you Hinata-nē-chan!"

Tsukiko walked over and gave Hinata a hug. Hinata blushed and couldn't get over how adorable little Tsukiko was…however much she monopolized all those hugs Hinata wished she could have…

Tsukiko promptly returned to Naruto's side, grabbing his hand cheerfully as they walked along.

"Onī-chan, what are we doing?"

Naruto thought for a moment. What were they going to do?

"Well, it's getting close to lunch time, how about we go get some Ichiraku ramen?"

Tsukiko tilted her head.

"What's ramen, onī-chan?"

Naruto's draw drop and he stared at Tsukiko as if she said she couldn't breathe.

"You…haven't had ramen…?"

Tsukiko shook her head and peered at Naruto inquisitively.

Naruto grabbed Tsukiko in one hand and Hinata in another and began sprinting towards Ichiraku's. Sasuke sighed and shook his head.

"Only Naruto."

Sasuke stuck his hands in his pockets and strolled after his team. He suddenly stumbled forward as something or someone collided into him from behind.

"Oof! I'm so sorry mister…oh hey Sasuke-san. What are you doing here?"

Sasuke turned to see Sakura, who he assumed had been chasing after Tsukiko.

"I ask myself that every time loser opens his mouth…"

Sakura shook her head to hopefully hide the blush. This Sasuke kid was so cute! And so cool…and talented…and Sakura suddenly realized she was probably as red as Sasuke's other teammate right now.

"Um a-anyways…have you seen Tsukiko-chan by any chance? Kakashi-sensei wanted me to watch her for a bit…"

Sasuke pointed in the direction of a dust cloud.

"T-Thanks Sasuke-ku..-san. C-Could you help me find her?"

Sasuke sighed and began walking after his team…Sakura following along. This was going to be a long day.

-Day Before the Finals-

Sandaime stood at the top of the Hokage Tower, watching the commotion. People were gathering in the streets while Konoha shinobi and ANBU were trying to keep order. Through the center of the street, a very large and muscular dark-skinned man walked confidently towards the Hokage Tower, followed by several serious-looking shinobi. It was a day early, but the Raikage had arrived.

Sandaime took a deep breath and returned his office, where Jiraiya was waiting, as the Raikage's party reached the bottom of the Hokage Tower. This meeting _had_ to go well. Sandaime took one final breath as he heard the Raikage approach the door to his office.

"Greetings, Raikage-sama. We are truly honored to have you here."


End file.
